Paras Indonesia, 11, 11 2005 @ 01:22 am
Australia Welcomes News of Azahari's Death
Roy Tupai
The Australian government on Thursday (10/11/05) welcomed the death of Malaysian
terrorist Azahari Husin as "very good news".
Azahari was shot dead by anti-terror police during a raid on his hideout in East Java
province. He was accused of involvement in a series of bomb blasts in Indonesia that
killed over 250 people. Two of the attacks, on bars and restaurants in Bali in October
2002 and October 2005, killed a total of 92 Australians. He was also involved in
planning the September 2004 bombing outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta.
Following are relevant parts of transcripts of media interviews with Australian Prime
Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on the death of
Azahari, who was a senior member of regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah.
TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER
THE HON JOHN HOWARD MP
INTERVIEW WITH DAVID SPEERS,
SKY NEWS
10 November 2005
SPEERS: Do you fear though that the war on terrorism has been lost?
PRIME MINISTER: No I don’t. I mean the news if it is finally confirmed about Azahari
is very good news. It doesn’t mean that JI is crippled but it does mean that
somebody who is believed to have been behind the two Bali attacks, the Marriott
attack and the attack on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta may well have been
taken out of the equation. Now if that is confirmed then that is a huge advance. But
we’re going to be embroiled in this struggle for years into the future. We can’t allow
it to interrupt our normal lives but we have to accept, we have to change our lives in
some respects and we have to have laws and constraints that we don’t normally like
in order to protect ourselves as best we can.
SPEERS: Is there a concern though with Azahari that we may now see some revenge
attacks by Jemaah Islamiah?
PRIME MINISTER: Well that isn’t really the point. I mean if I may say so, that sort of
thinking is the last way to win a fight against terrorism. That implies that somehow or
other if we don’t anything the problem will all go away. The world wasn’t doing
anything on the day of the… the evening of the 10th of September 2001 - that was an
unprovoked, unjustified criminal attack which took 3,000 lives. And this idea that you
buy immunity by doing nothing and pleading for a compromise… terrorists have
contempt for that sort of attitude and I can’t say that what’s going to happen in
relation to future terrorist attacks. But in the end we have to understand that they are
evil, unbalanced, prejudiced people who don’t think the way we do. Their values are
fundamentally different and they are the enemy of all civilised societies - Islamic,
Christian, Judaic, whatever you like.
SPEERS: Is that the biggest threat that Australians face in the form of terrorism,
those JI operatives in Indonesia and across the region. Do you consider that to be the
biggest threat that Australians face?
PRIME MINISTER: Well it’s the most physically close, proximate threat and
because a lot of Australians visit Indonesia and other countries the possibility of
Australians being caught up in terrorist attacks in those parts of the world does
remain high. But you can’t rule out the possibility of something happening here. It’s
less likely but it’s still quite feasible - as ASIO has said. And it’s something that we
need new laws to try and prevent and pre-empt. I mean prevention is not only better
than cure because there’s no cure once a terrorism…. a terrorist event occurs.
Prevention is the only affective weapon against terrorism.
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Interview - Sky
10 November 2005
Downer: There was a raid on a particular house and Azahari and two accomplices
were believed to have been there and when the raid took place there was some
resistance and eventually the three people there are reported by the police to have
blown themselves up. Now, whether it was Azahari that has yet to be confirmed - the
Indonesian police believe it was Azahari, we can't be sure. But a lot of work has gone
on over long periods of time into trying to track Azahari and also his colleague Noordin
Top down and if it was Azahari - whilst no one wishes death on anyone - nevertheless
it would be very good to have him off the scene.
Speers: How significant would it be in terms of the overall war on terrorism?
Downer: It will be very significant because Azahari is the sort of mastermind of bomb
making. It is generally believed that he is the person who has designed and
assembled many of the bombs including the bombs that went off in Bali on both
occasions, the Marriot Hotel bombing in 2003 and also the bombing of the Australian
embassy on the 9 th of September 2004.
Speers: Is it likely that he might well have trained up other that will now fill his place?
Downer: Well yes it is. He would have trained others, there is no question of that, we
have to realise that just because he has been killed - if he has been killed - that if
that's the case that doesn't mean there aren't other people out there who can still do a
great deal of damage. There are, but he has really been the mastermind of the bomb
training, bomb designing and bomb making so it will be a skill that will be
substantially diminished. And also he is - along with Noordin Top - are leading zealots
in the cause of killing innocent people in order to achieve their fanatical ambitions.
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Interview - ABC AM
10 November 2005
McGrath: Mr Downer to return to our earlier story -the news from Indonesia this
morning that wanted terrorist Azahari has apparently been cornered by Indonesian
police and blown himself up - what's the Australian government reaction to that?
Downer: Well it's very important - not that one would wish anybody dead but it's very
important to get Azahari right out of the scene. I mean this is somebody who has
been behind the two Bali -we believe to have been behind the two Bali bombings, the
Marriot bombings and the attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta. Azahari and
his partner - Noordin Top are the two most wanted terrorists in South East Asia. Now
let me issue a word of caution and that is - it's very early days and there have been
false reports before so the Indonesian police have far from confirmed that this was
Azahari but anyway it would be very good news if he had been taken out of the scene.
McGrath: Noordin Top - you just mentioned there is still on the run, is there any sign
that police are moving in on him as well?
Downer: No, they are still looking for him and to the best of my knowledge they still
don't know where he is. You know there have been actually on quite a number of
occasion sightings of both of them and there have been attempts to seize them on
previous occasions but so far without success.
McGrath: Given that the networks are spreading so much, obviously Azahari would
have passed on some of that bomb making expertise to other people but having him
removed - what does that actually mean? Will that mean the brains of the outfit have
been dealt with?
Downer: Yes, well one of the brains of the outfit. As we were just discussing Noordin
Top is another but certainly Noordin Top and Azahari are the two key - have been the
two keys to these bombings by what we broadly define as Jemaah Islamiyah in
Indonesia. So to take either or both of them out is a very important step forward. But
you are also right I mean they have been passing on their bombing making or in fact
as in Azahari's case passing on his bomb making skills. But there are some who
believe Azahari was directly involved in the bombing attacks in the sense that he has
been there on the scene helping put together the bombs. Now that may not have been
the case in the first Bali bombing but it may very well be the case in the others, so
either way it is very good news that he has been taken out of the scene as I put it.
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