The Jakarta Post, 9/27/2005 1:54:45 PM
Jamaah Islamiyah no longer a serious threat to Australia: ICG
head
SYDNEY (AFP): The South East Asian-based network behind a string of deadly
bombings against westerners, Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), is no longer a serious threat to
Australia, according to International Crisis Group head Gareth Evans.
The network blamed for the Bali nightclub bombings which killed 202 people including
88 Australians in 2002, and the suicide bombings of the Australian embassy and
Jakarta's Marriott hotel, has had its power greatly reduced by police and intelligence
work, Evans says in a speech to be delivered lateron Tuesday.
He says the International Crisis Group's perception is that "the JI regional division that
covered Australia has been effectively smashed by Indonesian police and intelligence
operations, well supported by Australian agencies, and that JI itself no longer poses a
serious threat in Indonesia orelsewhere".
"The fugitive Malaysian bomb-makers for the embassy attack -- Noordin and Azahari
-- may be tempted by another western tarrget in Indonesia, but a household-name U.S.
enterprise is seen as more likely than anything identifiably Australian."
Australia ranked "well behind the U.S. and UK in the terrorist wish-lists" although its
profile had been raised by Canberra's support for the U.S. and the contribution of
troops to Iraq, the former Australian foreign minister says.
"All I can say is that such information and analysis as is available to me suggests
that the threat to Australians at home and abroad is real but moderate," Evans says.
Evans says that while the threat of terror attacks should never be underestimated, he
is dubious of the intelligence governments receive on terrorism. (*)
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