Friday 27th September 2002
Singapore Reveals Jemaah Islamiya (JI) Links to 9/11
Attackers
By Jeremy Zakis, ERRI Analyst in Australia
SINGAPORE (EmergencyNet
News) -- Singaporean Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng revealed on
Thursday that several suspected members of the Jemaah Islamiya (JI)
terrorist organization were linked to a number of al-Qaeda hijackers
involved in the September 11 attacks. Links between Riduan Isamuddin,
otherwise known as "Hambali," and Usama bin Laden's key lieutenant, the
late Abu Hafs, have been uncovered by Singaporean authorities
investigating the terrorist network in S. E. Asia.
Wong told The New Paper in Singapore that Zacarias Moussaoui, otherwise
known as the 20th hijacker in the September attacks, met with several JI
figures during a Malaysia meeting in 2000. Moussaoui met with senior
Malaysian JI operative Yazid Sufaat who hosted the
meeting at his Kuala Lumpur condominium.
Foreign Intelligence sources have told The New Paper that Faiz Abu Bakar
Bahana, who was detained late last year, had links to Moussaoui. Last
year, Farthur Rohman Rohman Al-Ghonzi from the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front (MILF) terrorist group in the Philippines, named Faiz and Hambali as
being the main instigators behind a plot to bomb US targets and other
installations in Singapore
last December.
The JI group were allegedly behind recent "credible" threats to launch
multiple bombings against US facilities in Asia to coincide with the
September 11 anniversary of the WTC and Pentagon attacks.
21 Sep 2002
TODAY'S CENTRAL FOCUS
More Jemaah Islamiya Terrorists Active in Region According to Malaysia
By Jeremy Zakis, ERRI Analyst in Australia
Malaysian police are warning that a group of suspected terrorists linked to Asia's Jemaah Islamiya (JI) organization remain at large, despite the arrest of 21 other terrorists from the group in Singapore last Thursday. Authorities told the Associated Press on Saturday that "There is definitely a group moving around", but did not elaborate on their size or cell type.
Last December, three active surveillance cells belonging to JI were captured in Singapore preparing to launch a massive bombing campaign against U.S., Australian and British interests in that country.
The group has long been trying to politically cripple Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Southern Philippines and Brunei, by using strategic campaigns of terror, mostly involving suicide bombers. Analysts believe that political instability in any one of those countries would be seized upon by the JI organization as an opportunity to form the base for their "Daulah Islamiah", or central independent Islamic State.
During the past year, Malaysian authorities have arrested 62 Islamic extremists, a majority of whom are from the militant group Kumpilan Mujahideen Movement (KMM) based near Kuala Lumpur. The KMM, according to Singaporean intelligence, has strong military ties to al-Qaeda cells in both Malaysia and Indonesia. Both KMM and al-Qaeda in turn, have strong military and financial ties to the JI terrorist organization.
Malaysian government officials said on Friday the Singapore arrests proved their theory that JI leader Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, had also been attempting to "stir-up" ethnic strife by "playing up" ethnic turmoil between Chinese and Malaysians. The government did not elaborate exactly how this was being achieved but ERRI analysts confirm this is consistent with an attempt by the Singaporean government last January to smooth over simmering Chinese-Singaporean relations in that country following the December 2001 JI terrorist cell arrests.
Singaporean authorities have learned since last Thursday that JI was planning to destroy vital water-supply pipelines to Malaysia, Changi Airport, petrochemical plants and oil refineries on Jurong Island. The Singaporean Defense Ministry also confirmed that other targets included a US vessel at the Changi naval base and a pub frequented by US naval personnel.
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MALAYSIA:
Police Break Up Malacca Strait Pirate Gang
Police in Malaysia on Sunday claimed to have broken up a gang of pirates, with the arrest of 10 Indonesians in the busy Malacca Strait where attacks on mariners are at an all-time high. Marine police chief Muhamad Muda said the suspects aged between 20 and 39 were held in the Malacca Strait off the southern Johor state late Thursday.
Muhamad said police fired with their automatic weapons at the suspects when they refused to surrender. The pirates were loading stolen motocycles on to a boat when police who had set up a surveillance for three nights moved in to arrest them. Two suspects suffered gunshot wounds while one was hit by propeller blades when he fell off the boat.
According to Muhamad, the leader of the gang had a criminal record and was released from a Malaysian prison two years ago. The pirates' boat contained axes, swords and hammers -- common tools used to rob ships. An initial interrogation of the pirates revealed they had robbed several ships in the strait.
The Strait of Malacca located between Malaysia and Indonesia is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes used by 600 vessels a day and is also the most pirate-infested channel. Malaysian marine police have reported 52 actual or attempted attacks in the strait in the first 10 months, up from only five for the whole of last year...
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