The Wall Street Journal, December 13, 2002
Indonesia Finds Terror Links May Be Wider Than Suspected
By TIMOTHY MAPES
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesia's investigation into last week's bombings in
Sulawesi indicates that connections among Islamic militant groups inn this sprawling
country are wider and deeper than previously suspected. The findings suggest that
terrorism here may prove difficult to suppress, despite a wave of arrests following
October's deadly attack in Bali.
Last week's explosions at a McDonald's restaurant and a Toyota showroom killed
three people in Sulawesi's largest city, Makassar. Indonesian police believe the
attacks were directed by a group of Islamic radicals who received military training from
al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan and executed to distract investigators from their
pursuit of suspects in the Bali bombings. At least some, they believe, have ties to
Jemaah Islamiyah, the al Qaeda-linked Southeast Asian militant group accused of
plotting the Bali attacks.
"They wanted to split the focus [of the police] because they know that there are still
many of the Bali bombers who are not yet caught," says an Indonesian security
official involved in the investigation.
Galvanized into action by the Bali attacks, Indonesian investigators say they are
uncovering a network of links among militant Muslim clerics, alumni of radical Islamic
schools and veterans of sectarian conflicts in Indonesia and abroad. Many of the
connections stretch back years and have been nurtured in bloody clashes between
Christian and Muslim militias in central Sulawesi and the Maluku islands. The breadth
and complexity of these ties could make defusing terrorist threats in Indonesia a far
bigger task than some security experts have previously believed.
Such findings jibe with those of a report on Indonesian militant movements released
this week by the International Crisis Group, a Brussels think tank. The ICG report
urged Indonesian police to re-open investigations into several earlier terrorist attacks,
in particular suggesting that Jemaah Islamiyah may have been involved in those
incidents as well. For example, the report suggests that a September 2000 car
bombing near the Jakarta Stock Exchange building that wasn't attributed to Jemaah
Islamiyah be re-examined in light of recent evidence about the group's activities. "The
reach of Jemaah Islamiyah through these networks may be more extensive than
previously thought," the report said.
Indonesian intelligence officials say they've already identified some new Jemaah
Islamiyah links to other Indonesian militants. For example, they say least 272
Indonesians received training in terror tactics in Afghanistan in recent years. Almost
all of them remain active in a group with a membership that largely overlaps with that
of Jemaah Islamiyah and calls itself Group 272, or G272. A few key members of both
G272 and Jemaah Islamiyah have been arrested and accused of involvement in the
Bali bombings, including Imam Samudra and Ali Gufron, who also is known as
Mukhlas. But many more remain at large, including Riduan Isamuddin, or Hambali,
Jemaah Islamiyah's alleged operations chief and Southeast Asia's most wanted
terrorist suspect.
Indonesian security officials say they've also identified a "second layer" of militants
affiliated with G272, men recently recruited from the thousands of young Indonesian
Muslims who have been radicalized in sectarian clashes in central Sulawesi and the
Malukus over the last few years.
The Makassar bombing illustrates such links, Indonesian police suggest. Their
investigation has focused on members of a local Islamic militia group known as
Laskar Jundullah, which played a key role in sending Muslim militiamen to fight
Christians in central Sulawesi. Six suspects have been arrested in connection with
the blast, at least two of whom believed to be members of Laskar Jundullah.
Laskar Jundullah was founded and led by Agus Dwikarna, an Indonesian who was
arrested in the Philippines in March for illegal possession of explosives, and is serving
a 17-year prison sentence there. Mr. Dwikarna contends that Philippine police planted
the evidence used to convict him and has denied any wrongdoing.
But Southeast Asian security officials allege that 38 year-old Mr. Dwikarna was also
involved in bombings in Jakarta and Manila, and was a senior figure in Jemaah
Islamiyah. According to this week's ICG report, Mr. Dwikarna worked closely with
Yassin Syawal, another alleged senior Jemaah Islamiyah member from southern
Sulawesi. Indonesian security officials say Mr. Syawal is among their most-wanted
suspects in connection with the Makassar bombings and other terror attacks. They
also allege Mr. Syawal helped recruit and train Indonesian militants at local Islamic
schools that preach a radical version of the faith.
The ICG report also suggests that bitterness among Islamic militants over sectarian
issues in Indonesia is increasingly mixed with growing anger against the U.S.-led
global war on terror -- a contention bolstered by the selection of the targets in the
Makassar attacks.
The Toyota showroom and the building housing the McDonald's restaurant are both
owned by the family of Jusuf Kalla, Indonesia's minister for social welfare. Mr. Kalla
played a prominent role in negotiating a peace agreement between battling Christian
and Muslim groups in central Sulawesi. The minister has said he regards last week's
bombings as retaliation by militant Muslim groups against his peace-making efforts.
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