Terrorist leaders still at large in Indonesia: Lee
Terrorist leaders still at large in Indonesia: Lee
Agencies, Singapore
Singapore remains at risk from a terrorist attack because leaders of regional extremist cells are still at large in Indonesia, Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew said in remarks published on Monday.
The Straits Times reported that the former prime minister, speaking on Sunday at a community gathering, likened terrorist groups to multinational corporations with a presence in several countries.
He said despite Singapore's arrest of 13 suspects with alleged links to the al-Qaeda network led by the world's most wanted man Osama bin Laden, it was still in danger because the terrorist brains remained free.
Singapore arrested 13 suspected members of a Southeast Asian Muslim group, Jemaah Islamiyah, in December, but the group is still a serious threat to the region, the Straits Times newspaper reported quoting Lee.
Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said on Sunday that the 13 men arrested in Singapore on terrorist charges had planned to use a quantity of explosive some 20 times more powerful than that used to destroy the Federal Building in Oklahoma.
The men planned to use 21 tons of ammonium nitrate in attacks around Singapore in either December last year or in January, the local Straits Times Television network quoted Goh as saying.
"And to give you an idea of what 21 tons of ammonium nitrate could do, you've got to remember in 1995 in Oklahoma City, the Federal Building, which was a nine-story building, was brought to the ground with just one ton of ammonium nitrate," Goh said in an address to constituents.
Singapore officials have linked Jemaah Islamiyah to Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda organization, and said members planned to bomb Western embassies, U.S. Navy ships and other targets in Singapore.
Lee likened the group to a multinational corporation, saying that while some employees were disabled, the bosses remain at large in neighboring Indonesia.
They need foot soldiers to do the legwork in Singapore, such as taking videos and buying explosives, but masterminds make the final decision on when to come in, assemble bombs, go to the targets and set off the explosives, Lee said.
"You buy materials in one place and prepare them, and I make arrangements from another place," Lee reportedly said in describing how the network operates.
Regional security officials believe suspected terrorist cells busted in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines are directed by leaders in neighboring Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation.
Authorities in Malaysia have identified three Indonesian preachers as responsible for religious and militant indoctrination of a Malaysian group accused of planning to topple the government violently.
Malaysia has detained 23 suspected Islamic militants, including four Indonesians and three Singaporeans.
Philippine police have arrested an Indonesian, Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, on suspicion of being the explosives expert for the Jemaah Islamiyah group, said to be planning a bombing campaign against U.S. targets in Singapore.
The United States, which is helping the Philippines in its fight against extremists, has urged Indonesia to take firmer action against suspected terrorists.
Dozens of suspected militants arrested recently in Malaysia and Singapore are thought to have ties to an Indonesia-based Muslim cleric, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir. Abu is the alleged leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, an extremist organization with cells in Malaysia, Singapore and the southern Philippines.