Terrorists 'selling phone cards'

Terrorists 'selling phone cards'

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Terrorists in Indonesia are facing funding problems and are
resorting to selling mobile phone vouchers to raise cash after
money from Saudi Arabia was cut off last year, National Police
chief Gen. Sutanto said on Monday.

Sutanto said that the funding from a terrorist cell in Saudi
Arabia was disrupted after security authorities arrested last
year a man identified only by his initials, "AS", who had been
receiving the funds from couriers.

"They (terrorists) now face difficulties in obtaining money to
finance their operations with the arrest of this man. We've cut
their access to money," Sutanto told the House of Representatives
Commission III on legal affairs.

Police believe terrorists are obtaining money legally by
selling mobile phone vouchers, a business that has mushroomed in
the country.

"They (terrorists) can reap profits amounting to Rp 5 million
(US$500) a day," Sutanto said.

Tactics had changed since the Bali bomb attacks in 2000,
Sutanto said. Then a perpetrator, Imam Samudra, had raised funds
through robberies. Imam is now on a death row.

Sutanto's comments confirm the views of some security experts
who have said terrorists have begun smaller operations because of
cash-flow problems. The last attacks, in restaurants in Bali on
Oct. 1, were carried out by three suicide bombers wearing
explosive-laden backpacks. Previously, militants had preferred to
use larger car bombs.

"These are difficult times for them now, but we're
intensifying our efforts to investigate them, including finding
our most wanted man, Noordin Mohd. Top," Sutanto said.

Sutanto also urged the government to implement the Single
Identification Number (SIN) project quickly so that each person
could be identified by a single number, making it more difficult
for terrorists or criminals who wished to create double
identities.

"Our laws and surveillance systems are too weak right now.
People can have two ID cards or two passports just like Noordin
and his followers (did). With the single number we can prevent
such things from happening, thus diminishing crime in Indonesia."

Noordin and Malaysian compatriot Azahari bin Husin have been
accused of masterminding a series of bomb attacks in the country
during the past few years. The two are believed to be senior
members of the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) regional terror network,
which is linked to al-Qaeda.

However, a recent theory says that Noordin may have split from
JI and formed an even more militant group.

Azahari was killed during a police raid on Nov. 9 in East
Java. It is believed Noordin managed to escape a raid on the same
day in the Central Java city of Semarang.