SE Asia's threat of radicalism

SE Asia's threat of radicalism

By Eric Teo Chu Cheow

SINGAPORE: The coordinated terrorist attacks on the World
Trade Center's twin towers and the Pentagon have refocused world
attention on radical Muslim terrorism and highlighted, once
again, the fragility of the situation in Southeast Asia.

As suspicion falls on Afghanistan-based Osama bin Laden's
Muslim militant network, the concern is that an Afghan mujahideen
network may well have established itself in Southeast Asia and is
feeding upon the grievances of the huge, impoverished Muslim
populations of Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand,
and even Cambodia and Myanmar.

According to reports in The New York Times, Muslim fighters
who had trained and fought in Afghanistan have linked up with
local insurgents and other radical Muslim groups in Malaysia,
Indonesia, and the southern parts of the Philippines and
Thailand.

For instance, Abu Sayyaf and some groups within the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines are said to have
links with the Afghan network and are supported financially by
the likes of Osama and some Middle Eastern governments.

One would remember the "special" role played by Libyan
President Muammar Gaddafi in helping to secure the release of
foreign hostages last year from the Abu Sayyaf.

The handsome ransom paid has probably been used to buy more
arms for the rebels in their fight against the Philippine
military, as well as to recruit more local supporters to help
fight for an Islamic state in the southern Philippines.

Today, the Philippines remains the "soft spot" of active
Muslim insurgency in Southeast Asia.

It remains vulnerable because of the poverty and years of
economic neglect of the south by the central authorities. The
autonomy granted during the last days of the Ramos government,
working hand in hand with Muslim leader Nur Misuari, has
apparently not been sufficient to ease local discontent.

Over in Indonesia, there has clearly been an emergence of
radical Islam in the past three years.

The return of mujahideen fighters from Afghanistan -- many of
whom are Indonesians -- has more recently sparked off a radical
Islamic movement in Indonesia, whose goal appears to be to
"destroy the enemies of Islam".

A recently-detained leader of the radical Laskar Jihad group
is said to be a mujahideen with Afghan experience. The group was
instrumental in declaring a jihad (holy war) against Christians
in Ambon and the Maluku islands last year.

Other radical Muslim groups are believed to have links with
certain elements in the military, in particular, generals with a
"green" or pro-Islamic bent who may harbor goals of destabilizing
the government.

The work of Indonesian Muslim militant groups could be seen in
last year's Christmas Eve bombings outside churches.

More recent attacks on bookshops and Western-style restaurants
and bars in Jakarta are other worrisome indicators.

Christians among Chinese Indonesians would clearly be the
prime targets on the militants' hit list of "enemies of Islam".

There are as yet no conclusive indications of direct links
between the Free Aceh Movement fighters and these mujahideen
fighters, but they cannot be discounted totally.

As Indonesia spans a large territory and is grappling with
serious economic problems and their attendant social hardships,
it provides fertile ground for the growth of such radical
elements.

It is significant that presidents of Indonesia and the
Philippines, Megawati Soekarnoputri and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo,
have agreed to join forces in addressing the Muslim insurgency
problem.

In the meantime, Malaysia has made clear its determination to
stamp out militant Islam.

It recently detained several people who had reportedly trained
in Afghanistan, among them the son of Parti Islam SeMalaysia
(PAS) opposition leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat.

This clampdown has added another dimension to the political
contest of the United Malays National Organization with PAS for
the Malay electorate's political allegiance.

In southern Thailand, after years of dormancy, the Pattani
United Liberation Organization was suspected to have sprung back
into action earlier this year with a bomb blast in Songkhla.

This prompted newly-elected Thai Premier Thaksin Shinawatra to
hold talks immediately with his Malaysian counterpart, Datuk Seri
Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

During the meeting, there was reportedly an exchange of views
on the possibility of Muslim insurgency and terrorism in southern
Thailand, and Thaksin was also reported to have secured closer
cooperation from the Malaysian side in jointly tackling this
problem.

Two other predominantly Buddhist countries in the region --
Cambodia and Myanmar -- also have indigenous Muslim communities,
which may pose a problem as their members are generally less
well-off than the population at large, making them possible
targets of the mujahideen's message.

Muslim insurgency is on the rise in Southeast Asia, as the
principal countries in the region make painful political and
democratic transitions under very fragile economic and social
conditions.

Intra-regional cooperation is of critical importance to
contain its spread as, otherwise, it could undermine regional
stability and prosperity.

The writer, a corporate consultant, is also council secretary
of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs and director-
general of the Pacific Basin Economic Council-Singapore.

The Straits Times / Asia News Network