U.S. terrorism sanctions come into force against JI
U.S. terrorism sanctions come into force against JI
Agencies, Washington/Jakarta
United States terrorism sanctions against Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), the Southeast Asian Islamist militant group suspected of involvement in this month's deadly Bali bombing, came into force on Wednesday as the State Department designated it a "foreign terrorist organization."
"We hope these steps put Jamaah Islamiyah out of the terrorism business," Secretary of State Colin Powell said in a statement announcing economic and travel sanctions on the group.
The designation, which now applies to 35 organizations, places a freeze on any assets the group may have in the United States, bars it from raising money here and denies U.S. visas to members.
Jamaah Islamiyah was also placed on a U.S. blacklist that affects monetary transactions outside the United States that involve U.S. banks and other financial institutions, the Treasury Department said in a notice on its website.
Meanwhile, the United States and Australia will lobby the United Nations to declare Jamaah Islamiyah a terrorist group by recalling its alleged involvement in bombings across Southeast Asia and a plan to crash a plane into Singapore's airport, according to a confidential report.
The two countries hope an international campaign to root out and cut off financial and other support to the Southeast Asia- based group would follow a UN declaration that it is an al-Qaeda ally, said a Philippine official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In Jakarta, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said that as soon as Jamaah Islamiyah was put on the UN list of terrorist groups, the Indonesian authorities would put the group under surveillance.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Marty Natalegawa said on Tuesday in Jakarta that as a member of the United Nations (UN) Indonesia was obligated to comply with resolution No. 1390/2002 regarding terrorist groups.
"We are obligated to freeze, without delay, all economic resources of the organizations and to prevent the entry or transit of any person related to these groups," Marty said.
"We also have to stop all activities that may be related to military operations of these organizations," he added.
U.S. and Australian officials have circulated a confidential report on Jamaah Islamiyah's history, key leaders and terrorist plots and strikes in the last two years to support a petition asking a UN Security Council committee to brand the group a terror organization, said the Philippine official.
In Canberra, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he was confident the United Nations would support his call to declare Jamaah Islamiyah a terrorist group, on mounting evidence it played a role in the Bali bomb attack on Oct. 12 that killed more than 180 people, many of them Australians.
"I will be staggered if the United Nations refuses to list this (group) as a terrorist organization," Howard told Brisbane radio station ABC on Wednesday.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's administration, a staunch ally of the U.S.-led global war on terrorism, supports the petition, said her press secretary, Ignacio Bunye.
The group, which aims to create an Islamic state encompassing Indonesia, Malaysia and the southern Philippines, "has cells operating throughout Southeast Asia," said the two-page report relayed by Australia to the Philippine government, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.
"JI's aim of replacing democratically elected governments by unlawful means poses a serious threat to individual countries and the peace and security" of the region, it said.
The report named an Indonesian cleric, Abu Bakar Bashir, as one of Jamaah Islamiyah's top leaders, along with compatriots Fathur Rohman al Ghozi and Riduan bin Isamuddin, also known as Hambali.
Bashir, who has denied any wrongdoing, was arrested last week on suspicion of involvement in several church bombings that killed 19 people in Indonesia two years ago.
The report, citing a plan called Jihad Operations in Asia that it said was uncovered by authorities in Solo, Indonesia, said Jamaah Islamiyah plotted to bomb the American embassies in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore in December 2001. Other targets included the diplomatic missions of the United States, Australia, Israel and Britain in Singapore, along with U.S. and Singaporean defense establishments, the report said.
The plot was foiled with the arrests of 13 alleged Jamaah Islamiyah members, according to the report.