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CNSNews.com


CNSNews.com, November 04, 2005

Escape of Top Al Qaeda Terrorist a Setback for SE Asia

By Patrick Goodenough, CNSNews.com International Editor

(CNSNews.com) - The escape from U.S. custody of al Qaeda's senior representative in Southeast Asia is a severe blow to the region's campaign against terrorism, although security analysts doubt he will return to his former operational area.

Even if Omar al-Faruq does not return to Southeast Asia, however, his escape could boost extremism and affect counter-terror cooperation between the U.S. and Indonesia, they said.

The U.S. military has confirmed that al-Faruq was one of four detainees who escaped from custody at the Bagram airbase in Afghanistan over the summer. The breakout was reported at the time, but his identity only emerged this week.

Security at the detention facility has reported been tightened.

A Kuwaiti-born Iraqi, al-Faruq was since the second half of the 1990s al Qaeda's point man in Southeast Asia, first in the Philippines, then moving to Indonesia in 1999 following the fall of Suharto.

Also known as Mahmud bin Ahmad Assegaf, al-Faruq stands accused of training terrorists in the southern Philippines; involvement in anti-Christian violence in the Indonesian province of Maluku; and plotting attacks including the assassination of then Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

He also allegedly played a key coordinating role between al Qaeda and regional terror network Jemaah Islamiah (JI), including the setting up of financial networks. Intelligence officials say he accompanied senior al Qaeda figures Mohammed Atef and Ayman al-Zawahiri when they visited Indonesia in 2000.

According to the CIA, he married an Indonesian woman, the daughter of a Maluku Islamist militia leader killed during the Muslim-Christian conflict in 2000. Experts have said the arranged marriage was a way of securing alliances between terror networks.

Al-Faruq was arrested in Indonesia and quietly handed over to U.S. authorities in June 2002.

In September of that year, U.S. and other Western embassies across the region were closed or placed on high alert because of terror fears. At the time, Philippines police officials attributed the scare to information about a bomb plot provided by al-Faruq in custody.

One month later, JI carried out the deadliest terrorist attack since 9/11, targeting Western tourists on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

Little was heard of al-Faruq until this week, when a court martial at a Texas military base was told that he had escaped in July. The terrorist was to have been called as a witness in the trial of a soldier accused of mistreating detainees at Bagram.

Indonesian authorities expressed surprise that they had not been informed earlier of the escape.

Prof. Zachary Abuza, a specialist in Southeast Asia terrorism at Simmons College, said he did not expect al-Faruq would return to Indonesia, despite having a wife there.

"I imagine he's going to have a hard time leaving the hills of Afghanistan right now," he said from Boston Thursday.

Abuza said he did not think al-Faruq posed an immediate threat to governments in Southeast Asia, although after "three years as a guest of the American taxpayer ... I imagine he's come out with all the zeal he had before, and committed to the cause."

The bigger problem arising from his escape, he said, was the possibility that it could affect counter-terror cooperation between Indonesia and the U.S.

Washington says cooperation with Jakarta has improved considerably in recent years, although the Indonesians have been irritated by a U.S. refusal to hand over or provide access to JI operations chief, Hambali (Riduan bin Isomuddin) - arrested in Thailand and handed to the Americans in 2003.

"That they were not informed [of al-Faruq's escape] back in July is probably going to make them angry," Abuza said.

He recalled that when the Indonesians handed over the terrorist "the political leadership took a lot of flak for 'giving in to the Americans.' It was politically very sensitive."

'Irritant'

Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna said Friday the escape of the "seniormost al Qaeda member to have been captured in Southeast Asia" was a "severe setback."

Although he, too, did not believe al-Faruq would return to the region, Gunaratna said he could instigate more terrorist attacks, re-establish lines of communication, and possibly expose those who helped the Indonesian authorities to capture him.

Gunaratna, a visiting fellow at the Institute Of Defense and Strategic Studies in Singapore and author of "Inside al-Qaeda - Global Network of Terror," also voiced concern about the implications for regional cooperation.

"Significant resources have gone into the capture of the likes of Omar al-Faruq and if they manage to escape then the governments in the region will think twice [before] arresting people and handing them over to the Americans."

But while he thought the incident would be an "irritant," he doubted it would permanently harm security ties.

"The American cooperation and assistance is very widespread. I don't think an incident like this can strategically damage that relationship."

"Mistakes do happen in counter-terrorism," said Gunaratna, citing "frequent" terrorist breakouts from prisons in Southeast Asia.

The U.S. was responsible for thousands of terror detainees, and this escape - while a serious blow - should be seen "in proportion."

On the broader security situation in the region, Abuza said that despite JI's ability to carry out major attacks - the most recent a second bombing in Bali, last month - the network had "suffered terribly in terms of arrests - more than 300 around the region - including its founding leadership."

It was known that JI had received money from al Qaeda in the past for large attacks, but it now appeared to be getting fewer resources from Osama bin Laden's network.

"Much of the control and command has broken down -- what you have are looser, more horizontal cells," he said.

"The Asians deserve a lot of credit for doing a lot of things well."
 


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