The Age, March 22, 2007
Suspects linked to terror leader
Jakarta. INDONESIAN police have arrested two men linked to a man authorities
believe leads South-East Asian militant network Jemaah Islamiah, a police official
said yesterday.
Officers shot one of the men after the suspects resisted arrest during a raid near the
city of Yogyakarta, police spokesman Sisno Adiwinoto said.
"Those suspects are believed to have links to Abu Dujana's terrorist network," he said.
Abu Dujana is an Indonesian who officials say is the current leader of Jemaah
Islamiah, which has been blamed for launching deadly attacks in Indonesia, including
the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people.
A string of bombings has been blamed on Indonesian Islamic militants in recent years
and authorities have arrested hundreds for involvement in attacks.
The official crackdown, along with differences among members over tactics, led to
changes in Jemaah Islamiah that saw Abu Dujana emerge as head of the group,
according to police.
Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir is arguably the most noted figure identified with
Jemaah Islamiah. Western and regional intelligence officials said he was its spiritual
leader. But he denied links to the group, and last December Indonesia's Supreme
Court cleared him of any part in the Bali bombings. The finding came after he had
finished a jail term handed by a lower court that said he was part of the conspiracy.
Authorities say several important militant leaders remain at large, and the difficulty in
countering them is compounded by the operation of individual cells whose members
do not necessarily know about the activities of others, and further complicated by
ideological and tactical splits.
Malaysian national Noordin Top, considered a mastermind of the bombing attacks,
has been called the most wanted terror suspect in Indonesia.
But determining his current clout among the militants is difficult, police officials said.
Noordin has proclaimed himself leader of a group called the Tanzim Qaedat al-Jihad
network, or Organisation for the Basis of Jihad, police say, and its precise relationship
to the older Jemaah Islamiah is unclear.
REUTERS, AFP
Copyright © 2007. The Age Company Ltd.
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