SE Asia seen as haven for JI

SE Asia seen as haven for JI

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Singapore

Southeast Asia is still a haven for al-Qaeda operatives as
radical groups in the region keep receiving external funding and
support from charities and illicit channels, a United Nations
report said on Wednesday.

The terrorist network's Southeast Asian arm, Jamaah Islamiyah
(JI), and other al-Qaeda-linked groups are also purchasing
weapons locally, said the report released by the UN Monitoring
Group set up after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.

The report, published in The Straits Times, identifies
Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar (Burma) among countries
that are still not entirely cooperating on measures to curb money
laundering and financing of terrorism.

It notes Singapore and Hong Kong are among those that have
made "significant progress."

JI is the main suspect in the Oct. 12 bombings in the
Indonesian resort island of Bali that killed more than 190
people. It is also suspected in a string of plots and attacks in
the region in recent years.

The monitoring group's report said JI and other al-Qaeda-
linked groups are buying their weapons locally. In an earlier
report it said weapons were sourced from the Golden Triangle
area.

The latest information indicates these "weapons were being
obtained from local black markets, from the looting of military
dumps and from corrupt servicemen."

According to the report, al-Qaeda operatives continue to move
about in Southeast Asia, as well as in Europe and between
Afghanistan and Pakistan, because a great many "remain
unidentified".

Several of the charities and non-governmental organizations
implicated in channeling funds to al-Qaeda or associated groups
are based in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Southeast
Asia, it said.

The organization is considering Southeast Asia as a center
where its assets can be stored for future requirements, "such as
the possible re-establishment of training and recruitment center,
if and when new safe areas become available to them," the U.N.
report said.