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Charity program for orphans has link to bin Laden, Taliban

Top 1675. Apr 30, 2002 10:07 PM

» JenL_2 - Re: FBI links head of Illinois-based charity to bin Laden

In response to message posted by Dave_K:

more detail on Arnaout & BIF from 3/8 Chicago Tribune...

By LIZ SLY AND LAURIE COHEN
Chicago Tribune

KOTI ASHRO, Afghanistan -

- Benevolence International Foundation, an Illinois-based Muslim charity, asks Americans to open their wallets to help Afghan orphans living near the dusty village of Koti Ashro outside Kabul.

What Benevolence does not mention, on its Web site or in its newsletters, is that these orphans attended an institution that until recently was run by a Taliban official who was also a good friend of Osama bin Laden, according to former Taliban leaders and workers at other relief groups.

This does not prove that Benevolence money ended up in the hands of bin Laden or other terrorists. But the link to the Taliban official raises concerns about the distribution of Benevolence funds. The orphan program is just one example of the kind of activities that have cast suspicion on Benevolence and other groups working in the name of Islamic philanthropy.

Since the U.S. government froze its assets in December, citing suspected links to bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network, authorities have refused to say why Benevolence is being investigated.

The charity, based in southwest suburban Palos Hills, Ill., denies any involvement with terrorism. It has challenged in federal court the government's actions, which Benevolence officials call "anti-justice." Benevolence's attorney, Matthew Piers, said the group was unaware of the link between the orphan program and bin Laden's associate.

Benevolence is "squeaky clean," Piers said. "I cannot find a jaywalking problem, let alone a terrorism problem, even an inadvertent one."

Yet Benevolence's history, from its origins in the Arab effort to aid the Afghan war against the Soviet Union in the 1980s to its recent endeavors in Afghanistan, points to a number of overlaps with bin Laden and radical Islamic causes.

For example, government authorities appear to believe that Benevolence's leader, Enaam Arnaout, was connected with a bin Laden organization called the Services Office, according to a federal document issued when Benevolence's offices were raided nearly three months ago. The Services Office is widely viewed as the precursor to al-Qaida.

Benevolence's office in Saudi Arabia was shut down by Saudi officials several years ago in a reported crackdown on terrorism funding. And its former operations manager toured the U.S. in the mid-1990s praising the fighting skills of Muslim holy warriors.

Tracking the activities of groups like Benevolence is not easy. Like many Islamic charities, Benevolence focuses on helping Muslims in far-flung war zones, where humanitarian relief is sorely needed. But some charities also have been used to provide cover and funding for al-Qaida, said Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism researcher based in Scotland.

In a recent interview in his lawyer's Chicago offices, Arnaout, a 39-year-old native of Syria who is now a U.S. citizen, denied any connection to terrorism. Benevolence is devoted to "looking after suffering people all over the world, especially widows, orphans and refugees," he said.

The charity, which collected $3.6 million last year and has 10 overseas offices, says it builds wells in Pakistan, delivers shoes to Chechen refugees and funds Islamic summer camps in Bosnia and Azerbaijan.

"Always we are in the field," Arnaout said. "We check on the office ourselves. We don't send the money and forget about it."

Yet control appeared lax in Koti Ashro, a hamlet on the outskirts of the town of Maidan Shahar. Benevolence distributes aid to about 100 orphans in Koti Ashro, more than a quarter of the total number of children it sponsors in Afghanistan.

Benevolence has been sending money to Koti Ashro since 1999. But nobody from the U.S. headquarters has ever visited the orphanage. No U.S. representative of the group has been to Afghanistan since around 1996, Arnaout said.

Instead, Benevolence has relied on its Pakistan-based project manager, an Afghan native named Haroon, to oversee the program. Like many Afghans, Haroon uses only one name.

Haroon said he picked the location on the recommendation of Hafeezullah, the Taliban's chief of protocol at the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Hafeezullah was originally from the Koti Ashro area and served as director of the institution. The institution now mainly offers classes in Koranic study to local children, including orphans.

Hafeezullah was also, according to those who knew him, a close friend of bin Laden. Unlike most Afghans, he spoke fluent Arabic and was well connected in al-Qaida circles, said Mullah Mohammed Khaqzar, the Taliban's former deputy interior minister. At Khaqzar's one meeting with bin Laden, he recalled, Hafeezullah served as bin Laden's interpreter.

Hafeezullah "was not a powerful man in the Taliban, but he had good relations with Osama bin Laden and that is why he was powerful," Khaqzar said.

When bin Laden visited Kabul for the first time in 1996, he and his family stayed at Hafeezullah's home and Hafeezullah was a regular visitor to bin Laden's home in Jalalabad, according to Khaqzar. Journalist Peter Bergen, author of "Holy War Inc.," said that of all the Taliban officials he interviewed in 1999, Hafeezullah took the "hardest line" against expelling bin Laden from the country.

Hafeezullah, who had a reputation as one of the more corrupt Taliban officials, fled Kabul along with the rest of the Taliban leadership in November. His whereabouts are unknown.

Haroon insists he did not know that Hafeezullah was friends with bin Laden. Piers, Benevolence's attorney, said the group would not have funded the orphanage if it had known about the connection. Piers pointed out that the United Nation's World Food Program has donated food to the orphanage.

Whether the orphans got all the money sent by Benevolence donors remains a mystery. The amounts Benevolence claims it sent do not tally with the sums the orphans and their principal say they received.

Benevolence said it began donating $22.50 a month to each orphan beginning in December 1999; the amount rose to $27 in May 2001. Paid in Pakistani rupees, the subsidies would have totaled about $518 an orphan by last September.

Benevolence made available records showing the children's names and the amounts distributed, with a fingerprint next to each name.

But the principal of the orphanage, Malim Mohammed, and several children said Haroon actually distributed much less than the records showed. According to Mohammed, Haroon gave only about $163 a child during the entire period.

Most Western charities file reports on their activities with the Ministry of Planning in Kabul, but Benevolence has never reported on any of its projects, according to a ministry official.

Benevolence's and Arnaout's connections to Afghanistan date back to the Afghan war against the Soviet Union, when thousands of Arabs, including bin Laden, flocked to the Pakistani border town of Peshawar to join the mujahedeen, or holy warriors. In those days the United States supported the Arab and Afghan fighters, including bin Laden, in their fight against the Soviet occupation and the communist regime in Kabul.

Arnaout, then doing graduate work in Islamic studies in Lahore, Pakistan, said he went to Peshawar in 1987 and worked for a Saudi charity called Muslim World League. Muslim World League has also come under U.S. government scrutiny: Shortly after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the Treasury Department put a Pakistani affiliate of the group on a list of agencies believed to be supporting terrorism.

In 1988, Arnaout said, he went from Muslim World League to work for Benevolence's founder, a Saudi businessman named Adel Abdul Jaleel Batterjee. Batterjee oversaw a relief operation called Lajnat al Birr al Islamiyya, which was funded by the Saudi government.

Arnaout said he saw bin Laden in Peshawar but did not know him personally.

But federal officials seem to have linked him to bin Laden's Services Office (Makhtab al Khidamat in Arabic), which was set up to facilitate the recruitment, travel and training of Arabs arriving to fight with the mujahedeen. The U.S. government froze assets tied to the Services Office shortly after Sept. 11, alleging that it provided financial and logistical support to al-Qaida.

In the Dec. 14 raid on Benevolence's office, federal officials showed a search document indicating that Arnaout was an alias for Samir Abdul Motaleb, Piers said. A man of that name was identified last summer by Jane's Intelligence Review, a respected military journal, as having been one of the leaders of the Services Office.

Piers insists that Arnaout never used the name Samir Abdul Motaleb and was not connected with the Services Office. A spokeswoman for the Justice Department in Washington declined to comment on the alleged alias.

In 1991 Batterjee's organization published a book about the so-called Afghan Arabs who fought in Afghanistan, lavishing praise on bin Laden, according to Middle Eastern terrorism expert Steven Emerson. The Arabic-language book, which Emerson said he obtained from Batterjee, contains a detailed account of bin Laden's organization in Afghanistan, including a description of one of the first military training camps he established there. The book is available at the University of Chicago library.

After the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, Batterjee incorporated Benevolence in Chicago in 1992, seeking to raise money from American Muslims. Its headquarters were in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, and it had operations in Sudan, Bangladesh and Bosnia. Batterjee recruited Arnaout to oversee the Bosnian project.

In May 1993, Arnaout said, Saudi authorities refused to give Batterjee a license to operate Benevolence. The action coincided with a Saudi crackdown on charities believed to be funding terrorist movements. Batterjee, described as a "known political activist," was detained by police, according to a report at the time in the London newspaper the Guardian. Saudi officials declined to comment.

After Batterjee's clash with Saudi authorities, Arnaout took over Benevolence. Arnaout, who said he does not believe Batterjee supported extremist causes, said Batterjee has remained a benefactor, donating a total of about $150,000.

Batterjee is now chairman of Al Shamal Islamic Bank in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, according to the bank's Web site. Al Shamal has been identified by the U.S. State Department as being founded and capitalized by bin Laden, an allegation that the bank has denied. Batterjee did not respond to requests for comment.

Political messages have also crept into Benevolence's philanthropy, including a newsletter that even Benevolent officials later conceded was strident.

Suleman Ahmer, who was the group's operations manager, a board member and its main fundraiser in the mid- to late-1990s, delivered a speech across the U.S. entitled, "Jihad - The Misunderstood Word."

Most of the speech focused on the exploits of Muslim fighters in Bosnia and Chechnya. "OK, fine, we have some shortcomings but we Muslims know how to fight wars," Ahmer said in the speech.

Ahmer also lauded the Taliban in a panel discussion two years ago at Northwestern University, offending audience members with his defense of the regime's treatment of women, said Noreen Khalid, a student who helped organize the event.

Arnaout said Ahmer resigned from Benevolence in late 1999 and had already left when he appeared at Northwestern. Ahmer, who has returned to his native Pakistan, said in an e-mail message that he has never supported terrorist acts in the name of Islam.

Donations to Benevolence have slowed to a trickle. The Treasury Department recently permitted the group to pay its bills and rehire a few staff members, Piers said, but the charity will soon run out of funds in its overseas bank accounts.

....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

Top 1676. May 1, 2002 6:51 AM

» Kirk - Re:The Gathering Storm (2002) on HBO

In response to message posted by Sinewave2001:

Some of you need to use a dictionary... smile

"Reluctance" means I don't want war but when it is required... we do it.

Stopping Saddam Hussein from taking Kuwait and Saudi Arabia was a MUST. No doubt about it. I have NEVER said this was not a good war to have fought.

Think what would have happened in WW2 had the US and UK been armed and launched an invasion of Europe as soon as Hitler invaded Poland? My guess is millions of lives would have been saved. I look at Desert Storm as the Equivalent of Stomping on Hitler when he took Poland which we failed to do. After Hitler took Poland, he just got stronger...and more dug into Europe. D-Day involved invading hostile German Territory (France) whereas we could have gone over at the start and had the French feed us wine and cheese if they had realized the danger of Hitler.

No, the message I was giving is the people today that are most vocal could be right and we should listen even though they have been our adversaries in other political battles over domestic issues.

My only advice to the Fundamental Christian Right would be to NOT use the Bible to argue their case as they'll turn off more than they convince. I'd stick to history and use WW2 mistakes (allowing Hitler to take most of Europe) as an example.

Rande is right. I believe "middle of the road" people like me don't like war but we sure believe stopping Iraq and SoDamnInsane back in 1991 was the right thing to do. It is a small minority that really believe we should have let him have Kuwait and probably Saudi Arabia too.

Let me repeat my most important statement in my post that seems to have confused you:

"History does repeat itself and we might have our Conservative Fundamental Christian and Jewish friends to thank for warning us as England had Churchill."

Comparing my political adversaries to Churchill is quite the compliment btw...

-- posted by Kirk

Top 1677. May 1, 2002 8:08 AM

» Sinewave - Re: Re:The Gathering Storm (2002) on HBO

In response to message posted by Kirk:

Kirk,

I was using a dictionary........ ;)

You said,
Comparing my political adversaries to Churchill is quite the compliment btw...

I did notice your compliment to your political adversaries.............. but, did you have to give that much credit?

-- posted by Sinewave

Top 1678. May 1, 2002 11:03 PM

» JenL_2 - Re: Philippines Front

Update on the Philippines Front from 5/1 Washington Post:

U.S. Troops Have Yet to Join Patrols In Philippines

Domestic Worries Slow Efforts Against Muslim Rebels in South

By Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, May 1, 2002; Page A16

MANILA, April 30 -- A U.S. Special Forces training program for local troops pursuing Muslim extremists in the southern Philippines -- the second-largest operation in the U.S. war on terrorism -- has fallen far behind schedule because of domestic political concerns in both the United States and the Philippines.

U.S. soldiers were to have started field training exercises in early April, accompanying Philippine troops scouring the dense jungles of Basilan island for rebels of the Abu Sayyaf group who have two American hostages. But more than two months into the mission, the U.S. soldiers continue to be restricted to conducting limited training programs inside Philippine military bases, U.S. and Philippine officials said.

The inability to begin joint patrols with Philippine troops has frustrated U.S. soldiers and prompted officials from both countries to recast the goals of the operation, de-emphasizing its role in rescuing American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, who have been held on the remote island for 11 months.

A Pentagon official said the mission has slowed because the next phase in the operation has not been approved by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. He said Rumsfeld is concerned that some members of Congress could argue that sending Special Forces troops on combat patrols with Philippine troops would require congressional notification under the War Powers Act.

Philippine officials also are concerned about the domestic fallout of the deployment of U.S. forces to work alongside Philippine troops, even in an advisory role, if a patrol with American advisers engages in a firefight with the Abu Sayyaf. Under the Philippine constitution, foreign forces are forbidden to take part in combat.

"We want to minimize the chances the Americans will have contact with the Abu Sayyaf," a senior Philippine government official said. "We want to make sure nobody could accuse the government of allowing the Americans of being too close to combat."

The Pentagon has not received a request from the Philippine government to begin the joint patrols, which would involve U.S. soldiers carrying weapons but firing only in self-defense, according to another U.S. defense official.

But a Philippine military spokesman, Lt. Col. Danilo Servando, insisted that his commanders are ready to proceed with the joint training. "We are the ones who are waiting," he said. "The ball is in their court."

The operation, which also involves intelligence cooperation and construction projects, is regarded by U.S. officials as a key part of Washington's strategy to wipe out al Qaeda-linked groups and ensure that Southeast Asia does not become a new base for terrorists who are flushed out of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Abu Sayyaf, a ragtag band of self-proclaimed Muslim separatists, has kidnapped dozens of people in recent years and is alleged by Philippine officials to have funneled ransom payments to al Qaeda.

About 1,000 U.S. troops are stationed in the southern Philippines as part of one of the largest post-Sept. 11 deployments.

Under an agreement hammered out after intense negotiations late last year, U.S. troops were given authorization by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to accompany company-level units of 80 to 100 Philippine soldiers. Such activity had been regarded as the second stage of the operation, with the first being more general training programs for battalions inside military bases.

Because of political concerns, U.S. officials said they would wait for a go-ahead from the Philippine government before launching the second phase.

Philippine officials said they have made it clear that they would like to move to company-level training, but they said they have chosen not to make the request publicly.

A U.S. official involved in political discussions regarding the training program said the Pentagon, which is weighing troop commitments in Yemen and Georgia, where a small contingent began work today, as well as possible military action against Iraq, appears to have adopted a less aggressive approach toward the Philippines. "They were leaning fairly far forward last fall," he said. "Now they're not leaning that far."

The official said the Bush administration has become increasingly concerned "that we are going to create expectations that won't be fulfilled here. There are a lot of people who think we're here to rescue the Burnhams."

The defense official emphasized that the U.S. operation goes beyond a hostage rescue. "Measuring progress by the status of the hostages misses the bigger picture," he said. "Quite frankly, that's not the goal line we're shooting for."

Rescuing the Burnhams has proved more challenging than Philippine military commanders expected. The commanders had hoped the arrival of sophisticated U.S. intelligence-gathering equipment along with the U.S. soldiers would help to pinpoint the rebels and their captives.

But senior Philippine officials who have had access to U.S. and Philippine intelligence are not sure where the Burnhams are -- and even if they are still on Basilan. U.S. officials said they believed the Burnhams remain on the island.

The families of the hostages paid a ransom of nearly $300,000 to the kidnappers last month in a transaction that was facilitated by U.S. and Philippine law enforcement officials, people familiar with the matter said. But that approach does not appear to have worked.

Hopes that the couple, who are from Wichita, would be released around Easter were dashed. On Sunday, an Abu Sayyaf spokesman called a radio station to deny receiving the $300,000.

Philippine officials said the group received the ransom money but wants $200,000 more.

Although the Philippine government has adopted a no-ransom policy toward the Abu Sayyaf, military officials here said buying the couple's freedom may be the best way to combat the group.

The officials said they are reluctant to mount an all-out military campaign out of fear that dropping bombs on or indiscriminately shooting at Abu Sayyaf positions could harm the hostages. But if the Burnhams are released, one official said, "then we can hit those bandits with everything we've got."

Staff writer Thomas E. Ricks in Washington contributed to this report.

Update: Philippine Group Threatens Hostages

From Associated Press at 3:59 PM

MANILA, Philippines –– Muslim extremists holding American missionaries hostage ruled out further negotiations on Wednesday and threatened to kill the Kansas couple if U.S.-backed pursuit of the outlaws gets too close.

The Philippine military vowed, meanwhile, to intensify its drive to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf extremists and rescue Martin and Gracia Burnham of Wichita, Kan.

"If we see that the fight is getting one-sided, maybe we will just say goodbye to these two," Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Sabaya told Radio Mindanao Network in a what appeared to be a satellite telephone call Wednesday.

Sabaya made a similar statement shortly before he beheaded another kidnapped American, Guillermo Sobero, last July in what he called a birthday present to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

.....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

New sweep for al-Qaida fighters under way

Top 1679. May 2, 2002 12:24 AM

» JenL_2 - Operation Snipe

<img src="http://www.danielbergmann.com/images/bir..." width=500 height=325>
Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago
http://www.danielbergmann.com/galleries/...

from 5/2 MSNBC.com:

Intelligence points to fighters hiding in border area

NBC, MSNBC AND NEWS SERVICES

BAGRAM, Afghanistan, May 2 — About 1,000 coalition troops have begun a major new operation in southeastern Afghanistan to sweep a mountainous area believed to have been a key base for al-Qaida fighters, a British troop commander said Thursday.

“A POTENT force of around 1,000 strong and equipped with the full range of combat power at my disposal has been deployed by air and by land to first secure and then search a large and challenging area in what is a strategic key location for our enemy,” Brig. Roger Lane told reporters at Bagram air base.

Lane said its was “one of the few remaining areas that has never before been investigated by coalition ground forces.”

“We have good reason to believe that it is, or has been a key base for the al-Qaida terrorist network,” he said.

Lane refused to say where the operation was taking place, but British Marine Spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Harradine said it was not in the area of Khost and Gardez, two towns in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistani border where allied troops have been concentrating their efforts in recent days.

The British-led mission, dubbed ’Operation Snipe,’ will be supported by U.S. air power and U.S. special operations troops, a U.S. military spokesman said.

Earlier, a buildup of multinational forces along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border suggested that coalition troops were preparing for the offensive. Reports of a rocket attack on a building in Pakistan used by Americans raised fresh fears of coalition casualties.

Several hundred troops, including Afghans, Australians, British and soldiers from America’s 101st Airborne Division, were going to sites in Afghanistan along the Pakistani border, in several separate missions aimed at finding hiding enemy fighters and disrupting their operations, Pentagon officials said.

Coalition patrols and raids have focused such missions on the rugged, mountainous region for at least two months with the number of troops on the search rising and falling over time. But activities have been stepped up in recent days with a couple hundred more American troops moved into the area early this week, bringing the number to several hundred, one defense official said on condition of anonymity.

More troops in the area enable commanders to cover more ground — and increase the possibility of more contact with enemy fighters moving back and forth over the border, one official noted. A small number of U.S. special forces is working with Pakistani troops in hopes of helping them catch any fleeing or regrouping on that side of the border.

Officials declined to say whether there are sizable groups massing on the Afghan side. One official said small groups ranging from a handful to a couple dozen have been seen and are believed to have been part of a larger group hiding in the mountains.

On a search mission Monday night and Tuesday morning, Australian forces were attacked by a group of suspected al-Qaida and got into a battle that they believe killed four enemy fighters.

In the latest attack, a rocket was fired about 3 a.m. Wednesday at a vocational training institute in Miranshah, about nine miles from the Afghanistan border inside northwestern Pakistan, an official in Miranshah said on condition of anonymity.

Local people said the attackers aimed at the institute but hit an adjacent college building, damaging a wall and windows but resulting in no injuries because no one was in the facility at the time.

At the U.S. Central Command in Florida, Air Force Lt. Col. Martin Compton said officials were unaware of the incident and that he had no information that American military were in the building.

It was possible the building was being used by another U.S. agency. For instance, CIA paramilitary agents also have been working inside Pakistan.

U.S.-led forces have been focusing heavily on the eastern part of Afghanistan since Operation Anaconda. That campaign in the first two weeks of March, the biggest ground operation of the war, sought to flush fighters out of a 60-square-mile area in the Shah-e-Kot valley near Gardez. Since that ended, commanders have continued to send teams and patrols through provinces along the border to find fighters and weapons caches - an effort expanded in April with the arrival of some 1,700 British Royal Marines.

But throughout the seven-month war al-Qaida and Taliban have been on the move both around the country and in and out - slipping back and forth over the mountainous border into Pakistani tribal areas where they have supporters, Afghan and U.S. officials have said.

Both U.S. and Pakistani officials have said in recent days that a small number of U.S. troops have been put on the Pakistan side to support Pakistani troops with communications and intelligence as they pursue those taking refuge there.....

....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

Top 1680. May 2, 2002 12:31 PM

» JenL_2 - Re: OBL's Spain fundraiser

In response to message posted by BPyles:

update from 4/27 MSNBC.com:

<img src="http://www.msnbc.com/news/1466413.jpg" width=130 height=170 align="left">Syrian-born Spaniard Muhammed Galeb Kalaje Zouaydi after his arrest in Madrid earlier this week.

Al-Qaida suspect defended in Spain

Lawyer: Alleged bin Laden financier
a legitimate businessman

ASSOCIATED PRESS

MADRID, Spain, April 27 — A Syrian-born real-estate developer jailed for allegedly helping finance Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network was actually making legitimate business transactions, including trying to buy a used Mercedes-Benz car, his lawyer said Saturday.

ATTORNEY Maria Angeles Ruiz Martinez said the money transfers by her client, Muhammed Galeb Kalaje Zouaydi, were “all perfectly clear.” Ruiz Martinez said she will appeal Judge Baltasar Garzon’s Friday order that Zouaydi be jailed indefinitely without bail.

The appeal will be filed Monday at the National Court, Ruiz Martinez said.

Zouaydi was one of three people arrested last week in Spain for allegedly having al-Qaida links. The others are his alleged associate and an Algerian boat vendor believed to have been involved in financing the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

FINANCING LINK ALLEGED

Garzon charged Zouaydi with belonging to a terrorist organization and committing “multiple crimes of terrorism for as many deaths and injuries caused” in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, according to an order made available to The Associated Press by his family.

The order says police who searched Zouaydi’s business and home found videotapes of a training camp for Islamic fighters and footage of the Bosnian war, and that his computer had accessed Web sites linked to Islamic terrorist groups.

But Garzon’s order does not link Zouaydi directly to the Sept. 11 suicide airline hijackings. Rather, it says there is evidence of “the possible intervention of the suspect in the financing of some of the members” of the German-based group linked to Mohamed Atta, believed to be the lead hijacker.

Garzon also said it was “sufficiently proven that since 1996 (Zouaydi) contributed to the financing of persons linked to bin Laden and later to al-Qaida.”

Zouaydi contributed nearly $600,000 from 1996 to 2001, Garzon said. That included $15,400 to Mamoun Darkazanli, a Syrian-born, Hamburg-based businessman whom Spanish police have described as “belonging to the most intimate circle of Mohamed Atta.”

But Ruiz Martinez said that money was meant to buy a used Mercedes-Benz through a Darkazanli colleague. The deal later fell through, however.

“So it turns out that the same money he had transferred was transferred back to (Zouaydi) a week or two later,” Ruiz Martinez said.

Ruiz Martinez also refuted Garzon allegations concerning other money transfers by Zouaydi.

“They are all perfectly clear,” she said.

Spanish authorities say Zouaydi ran real-estate and construction firms that allegedly provided funds for al-Qaida activities in at least eight countries, including the United States, Belgium, Syria and the Palestinian territories.

12 HAVE BEEN ARRESTED IN SPAIN

Twelve other al-Qaida suspects have been arrested in Spain since November. Eight of them have been charged by Garzon with helping prepare the Sept. 11 attacks.

An alleged associate of Zouaydi who was arrested Wednesday was released by police without appearing before Garzon.

But Garzon plans to question him over the next few days about possible ties to Imad Yarkas, one of those arrested in November and allegedly the head of an al-Qaida cell in Spain, news reports said.

On April 20, police arrested Algerian Ahmed Brahim, described as al-Qaida’s chief accountant in Spain.

....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

Top 1681. May 3, 2002 11:27 PM

» JenL_2 - Hambali

More on the Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines Connection - Hambali aka Nurjaman Riduan, the supposed ringleader of the interrelated terrorist rings in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia & Philippines, is still at large. The Cover Story of 4/1 TimeAsia is a very interesting, indepth story about Hambali....

Asia's Own Osama

another related article - same issue....

Extremism Exported

Hambali's Indonesian brand of holy war travels to the Philippines on the back of local Islamic groups

By ANTHONY DAVIS General Santos City

Al-Qaeda may be the biggest, baddest terrorist supergroup on the planet, but it is by no means the only such menace. In Asia, as security and counterterrorist forces came online after Sept. 11, it became apparent that regional networks, often acting in concert with al-Qaeda, posed the greatest local threats. Of these, Jemaah Islamiah (JI), remains both the profoundest enigma and greatest worry. The outlines of the organization are frightening enough: possibly hundreds of operatives, cells throughout the region, and responsibility for a string of hijackings, bombings and bank robberies stretching back to 1994. Hambali, the brains behind the group, remains at large. And a recent wave of arrests in the Philippines makes clear the organization may be regrouping—and still has ties to nations throughout Asia.

In the lobby of the well-appointed East Asia Royale Hotel in the Philippine port of General Santos City, the three Indonesian businessmen and their Thai colleague made an unremarkable group. Foreigners who come to this scruffy entrepot in southern Mindanao are usually a bit fishy: this is the center of the country's tuna industry. And sure enough, on the morning of March 12, the four men checked in under the name of a firm called Century Tuna.

But these foreigners were here trawling for a different kind of catch, the type that swiftly attracted the attention of the Philippine police. By the following evening, the Indonesians — Agus Dwikarna, Tamsil Linrung and Abdul Jamal Balfas — were under arrest in Manila on charges of possession of bombmaking material. A search of their luggage yielded detonating cord, blasting caps and a small quantity of C4 military explosive. The men deny the charges and say these items were planted in their bags.

Philippine authorities report the men are connected to JI. In the past two years alone, JI has been implicated in Philippine and Indonesian bombings, and last December, Singaporean police foiled the group's plans to bomb local American targets. Police now worry JI is recruiting and training Islamic extremists from throughout Southeast Asia and forging ties with other radical groups to export its brand of holy war across the region. Says a Southeast Asian security official: "The feeling in the region is that the arrests in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines are all pointing to a group based in Indonesia." The Indonesian government's indifferent waging of the war on terror has frustrated its neighbors and allowed the country to remain JI's best bastion in the region. This latest wave of arrests indicates that JI's web of connections may extend even to the highest levels of Indonesia's political establishment.

Police say the three Indonesians and their Thai friend drove inland from General Santos City toward Marbel where they met contacts from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Manila's main southern guerrilla foe. The foreigners were taken to insurgent-controlled areas to meet local MILF leaders and possibly other Indonesians operating underground with the MILF.

The Thai man, Prasan Sirinond, has disappeared, and police suspect he too has JI connections, raising the possibility of a terrorist cell in Bangkok. But for the moment, investigations are centered on the Indonesians, particularly Agus and Tamsil. Both are from South Sulawesi, a province that has had a tradition of militant Islamic separatism dating back to the '50s. Tamsil has mainstream political connections: he was until recently treasurer of the National Mandate Party, whose leader Amien Rais is speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, Indonesia's highest legislative body. The leader of the Java-based Laskar Jundullah paramilitary group, which has been implicated in a bomb attack on a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet in Makassar last year, confirms that Agus Dwikarna is its South Sulawesi commander.

It was in the memory of Agus' cell phone that Philippine police claim to have found the home number in East Java of Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, the 31-year-old JI operative arrested in Manila this January and charged with the Dec. 30, 2000, bombings in the Philippine capital that left 22 dead and some 100 injured. By his own admission, al-Ghozi had used General Santos City as a base to store explosives for actions outside the Philippines. Police believe the three Indonesians had visited the city to investigate the damage to JI operations due to al-Ghozi's arrest and to reaffirm the group's connections with the MILF.

Security officials suspect other JI cells remain active in the Philippines, possibly working with the MILF. Meanwhile, throughout Southeast Asia, the workings and whereabouts of Jemaah Islamiah remain as mysterious as they are frightening.

With reporting by Zamira Leobis/Solo, Nelly Sindayen/Zamboanga and Jason Tedjasukmana/Jakarta

as reported above on this thread....from 4/24 Philippine Star:

Last week President Arroyo ordered the release of Indonesians Abdul Jamal Balfas, 37, and Tamsil Linrung, 40, upon the request of their government officials led by Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri. The two men were arrested last month at the NAIA together with another Indonesian, Agus Dwikarma, 37, as they were about to board a plane bound for Germany. Police said two oval-shaped plastic explosives and five detonation cords were found in the men’s carry-on luggage.
http://www.suite101.com/discussion.cfm/i...

....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

Top 1682. May 4, 2002 9:45 AM

» JenL_2 - Re: Indonesian Front

More on U.S. - Indonesia Military Relations from 5/4 The Straits Times - Singapore's largest English language newspaper.

US-Indonesia ties face terrorist roadblock

By Derwin Pereira
INDONESIA CORRESPONDENT

JAKARTA - As recent events in the Middle East have shown, defining terrorism can be a difficult proposition.

Nowhere is this truer than in Indonesia today, where one man's terrorist can be another's freedom fighter, community leader or Islamic preacher.

Having to come to terms with this issue is one of the biggest challenges facing the Indonesian military, with significant implications for US-Indonesia ties.

The United States and Indonesia are facing a chicken and egg situation: Is Jakarta going to get serious about fighting terrorism as a goodwill gesture to help lift the military-aid embargo?

Or is the hawkish US Congress going to revoke the ban first and then hopefully entice Indonesia into getting serious?

For their part, the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) and intelligence agencies see little value in launching a frontal assault on Muslim militants and suspected terrorists.

Since the Sept 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the military has tried hard to avoid creating the impression that it is anti-Islamic, for fear of alienating the wider Muslim community.

Islamic militancy in Indonesia is a 'tar baby' for the generals. Like the political elite, no one wants to touch the issue.

Intelligence chief A.M. Hendropriyono adopted a strong stance on terrorism initially, only to find himself incurring the wrath of vociferous militant groups.

It is no surprise, then, that his National Intelligence Agency (BIN) is now being criticised for allegedly being instrumental in the arrest of three Indonesians in the Philippines recently.

Two of them were released last week after Manila granted a request from Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri to set them free.

Backed by zealous politicians at home hoping to score a few points, they accused BIN of complicity in 'fixing' their arrests without any solid proof, and of being made use of as a tool by the US.

Noted an army general: 'There is very little room for us to manoeuvre. The risks are just too high for us to do something, without there being a backlash.'

LOW-PROFILE ALLIANCE

DESPITE such problems, security authorities are supporting the anti-terrorism drive, but in a low-profile and non-confrontational manner, and using the police in the front line.

Doing nothing altogether could be even more harmful.

Ms Megawati's ascension to power last July was a boon for the army, after enduring the trenchant desire of the past two leaders - especially Mr Abdurrahman Wahid - to sideline the armed forces.

For the first time since Mr Suharto's fall in 1998, the military is enjoying some freedom to dictate security policies with the blessings of the President.

Why would the TNI leadership rock the boat by giving radicals a chance to destabilise the new regime?

In fact, the generals have much to gain by going along with the US war against international terrorism, given the military's struggle against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Washington's campaign gives the TNI a chance to justify both increased troop deployment in Aceh and a crackdown on the separatists, without worrying about being accused of human-rights abuses.

Another big plus is that it could also normalise bilateral military links and remove restrictions that were imposed after the East Timor debacle in 1999.

But the TNI is not putting too much hope in this.

Ms Megawati's trip to Washington just after the Sept 11 terrorist attacks saw some gain when US President George W. Bush made overtures to improve military ties between both countries.

He offered to convince Congress to lift the Leahy Amendment restriction that applied only to two things: US-funded military training and military aid.

Sceptics, however, saw this as nothing but a symbolic gesture.

Security talks by Indonesian and US military officials here two weeks ago bore little fruit, other than the usual diplomatic niceties, which were expressed in a joint statement.

NO MOOD FOR MANDATES

THE Indonesian military, while recognising that it stands to gain critical military hardware if the Leahy Amendment were in fact lifted, is in no mood for others to dictate terms.

The army, in particular, appears to be taking a much harder line.

American influence on the air force and navy has been much stronger, given their dependence on equipment and spare parts. But, as one senior army officer noted, the army has no need for American aid.

'We don't need to go all the way to Fort Bragg for special-forces training when we can teach our officers the same things here,' said the three-star general.

'We would like to see it as a loss for the US.'

In terms of military aid, the army has not received a great deal from Washington in recent years - except for a few Harley Davidson motorcycles for Mr Suharto's presidential security guards in 1997.

US influence over senior army officers continues to be marginal, given that they do not have any real leverage over them.

That state of affairs looks set to continue, with sources saying that Washington is unlikely to disburse much-needed counter-terrorism funds to the TNI and, instead, plans to give them to the police.

The army generals would argue that Washington might be lacking in judgment here, given that the police have a dismal record in cracking down on extremist elements in Indonesia.

Conversely, one could argue that it would be a liability giving the money to the TNI, because there is no guarantee that it would be used to good effect.

There has been persistent speculation that a handful of rogue officers are adding fuel to the fire by encouraging radical elements. A two-star army general is openly sympathetic to such groups.

Even more damning are whispers of a retired army brigadier allegedly playing the role of puppet master in the sectarian violence in Maluku, by arranging shipments of arms into the province.

This does little to boost Washington's confidence in the TNI.

Problems will almost certainly worsen if events in the Middle East take another turn for the worse.

So, the face-off continues, with little indication that Indonesia is prepared to reassess its domestic extremist threat, or that Washington is willing to loosen aid restrictions as an incentive.

Judging from the lacklustre outcome of last week's bilateral military talks, neither side seems willing to blink first.

hmmmm - reminds me a bit of the situation in Pakistan .... both with government leaders that want to get tough on terrorism but are afraid to go too fast lest they anger the Muslim majority especially the Islamic hardliners. Also within both governments are Generals that sympathize or even handle the militant extremist groups. Both countries have exported terrorists to other countries, infact there has been a hefty terrorist exchange between Indonesia & Pak. Pakistan has it's war with India over Kashmir, but Indonesia's wars seem to be more internal between the Christians and the Muslims on various Indonesian islands. But the U.S. needs both India & Pakistan in our coalition in the war against terrorism .....a veery tenuous tightrope we're walking!.....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

Top 1683. May 4, 2002 7:38 PM

» JenL_2 - Re: Indonesian Front

One more on Indonesian Extremism from 5/4 Washington Post and published at MSNBC.com:

Indonesia has Taliban-style militants

Radical Muslim groups challenge secular traditions

By Rajiv Chandrasekaran
THE WASHINGTON POST

TASIKMALAYA, Indonesia, May 4 — The Taliban Brigade stormed into the hotel lounge shortly before midnight, wielding rattan canes and screaming “God is great!”

AS PATRONS cowered under the rickety wooden tables, and the leather-clad singer bolted off the stage, witnesses said, three dozen young men in flowing white robes swung their sticks at beer mugs and highball glasses. Then they charged into the kitchen to seize the hotel’s liquor supply, carting off several cases of beer and two bottles of whiskey.

“This is a Muslim country,” the leader of the mob shouted as his minions smashed everything in sight, according to a hotel employee. “We forbid you to drink alcohol.”

The Taliban Brigade, whose connection with Afghanistan’s erstwhile rulers is in ideology only, regards itself as a vanquisher of vice in this small city near the southern coast of Java island. Members raid nightclubs and cafes to stamp out drinking and gambling. They ransack shops suspected of selling pornographic video discs. And they sweep through hotels, rounding up prostitutes and shaving their heads.

GROWING NETWORK OF HARD-LINERS

The Taliban Brigade is part of a growing network of groups seeking to turn socially moderate Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago that is home to more Muslims than any other country, into a strict Islamic nation. Its members — students and teachers from Islamic boarding schools — want to abolish the country’s secular legal system and replace it with a version of sharia, the Islamic law that would ban the sale of alcohol, require women to wear head scarves and permit courts to order the amputation of thieves’ hands.

Although efforts to enact sharia nationwide remain the subject of much dispute and little progress, its advocates have become some of the most vocal players in Indonesia’s nascent democracy. They also have employed stealth. Using a new law that gives localities more autonomy, they have quietly enacted parts of their agenda in cities and jurisdictions similar to counties without approval from the central government.

In Tasikmalaya, the Taliban and a coalition of conservative Muslim organizations have persuaded the district governor to issue a host of edicts, from barring vehicular traffic near the main mosque during midday prayers on Friday to requiring that elementary and high school students, no matter what religion, receive a certificate of proficiency in Islamic studies. The governor also has urged women to cover their hair, and he has called for public swimming pools to be segregated by.

The Taliban, whose weekly raids are condoned by the police, also has imposed and enforced local sharia regulations, declaring a zero-tolerance policy toward alcohol, gambling, pornography and prostitution.

‘SINFUL THINGS’

“If we see it, we will destroy it or we will confiscate it,” insisted Mohammed Zainal Mutaqqien Aziz, a religious teacher who heads the Taliban Brigade, which was formed in 1998 and takes its name from the Arabic word for student. “These sorts of sinful things are not fit for Tasikmalaya.”

Unlike in much of the Muslim world, the growth of religious extremism in Indonesia has largely been an indigenous phenomenon, owing more to the country’s helter-skelter transition to democracy than to funding from outside groups. With rising poverty and lawlessness, fueled by economic stagnation and political infighting, an increasing slice of the population has started to view radical Islam as a panacea.

Conservative Muslim leaders said they have been aided by the U.S. campaign against terrorism, which is seen by many in Indonesia as a fight against Islam. Membership in their groups has swelled in recent months, they said.

“America’s actions have united Muslims,” said Jafar Umar Thalib, the leader of Laskar Jihad, a hard-line militia that has fought to evict Christians and implement sharia elsewhere in Indonesia, primarily in the former Spice Islands.

Although the Taliban, the Laskar Jihad and other groups are on the fringes of politics and society, government officials and mainstream Muslim leaders worry that extremists are nudging the world’s fourth-most-populous country away from its moderate traditions and secular roots.

“The radical groups may be small in number, but they’re very strong in influence,” said Ulil Abshar-Abdullah, director of the Liberal Islam Network, a coalition of moderate Muslim leaders. “They have enormous power to shape the agenda.”

Diplomats said they believe fears of a backlash from fundamentalist organizations — which make little secret of their admiration for Osama bin Laden and their abhorrence for America — have stalled the government’s pursuit of suspected terrorists. In the most notable example, Indonesian police recently opted not to arrest a prominent cleric EC: Abu Bakar Bashir alleged to be the ideological leader of an al Qaeda-linked terrorist group that plotted to blow up several Western embassies in Singapore. Indonesian officials contend that attempting to do so without incontrovertible evidence, which they said they do not possess, would spark massive protests.

“The government is being held hostage by the extremists,” said an Asian diplomat in Jakarta, the capital. “Nobody wants to take them on.”

CONSERVATIVE ISLAM ON THE RISE

The rise of conservative Islam seems a clear trend in a country that has long prided itself in having the world’s most liberal Muslims. In Jakarta, where billboards tout Bintang beer and feature scantily clad models, more young women are opting to wear head scarves, more men show up at mosques for Friday prayers and more families are fasting during Ramadan, according to Muslim leaders.

In a recent survey conducted by the State University of Islamic Studies, 58 percent of respondents across the country said they supported the idea of transforming Indonesia into an Islamic state run by Muslim clerics. More than 60 percent said the government should implement some form of sharia. But the survey also found that a sizable majority are opposed to other changes sought by such groups as the Taliban Brigade, including arresting Muslims who do not fast during Ramadan and having police ensure that Muslims pray five times a day.

Although President Megawati Sukarnoputri and most of parliament remain opposed to imposing sharia nationwide, the government has permitted local officials in Aceh, a province on the northern tip of Sumatra island, to adopt a limited form of sharia in an effort to wrest popular support from separatist rebels. As a first step, they ordered residents last month to follow a new dress code — women have to cover all parts of their body except their face, hands and the soles of their feet. The officials said they were forming a religious police force to enforce the rules.

The question of how much sharia is enough, and how much is too much, is emerging as one of the most contentious issues in this young democracy of more than 220 million people.

Tasikmalaya, located about 150 miles southeast of Jakarta, provides a preview of the broader fight. Here, the debate over sharia already is wrenching politicians, religious leaders, business owners and ordinary people.

“This is the most important test for the future of this country,” said Abshar-Abdullah lam Network. “It’s a test of whether moderate or conservative Islam will prevail.”

DEMOCRACY VS. SHARIA

Islam arrived in the islands that now Indonesia about 700 years ago, with traders from India and the Middle East schooled in the moderate Sufi branch of the religion. Because it was not imposed by conquerors, the new adherents were not compelled to renounce their Buddhist, Hindu and indigenous religious practices. The result was a hybrid form of Islam that coexisted with local traditions.

But by the end of the 19th century, as more Indonesian Muslims traveled to Arab countries and interacted with orthodox Muslims, a more conservative variety of Islam began to take hold. By 1945, when Indonesia won its independence from the Netherlands, liberal and conservative Muslims struggled for dominance. The conservatives demanded that the new constitution include a clause requiring Muslims to practice sharia. But moderate Muslim nationalists, led by the founding president, Sukarno, instead enacted an anti-sharia ideology called pancasila that accommodated five state-recognized religions: Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Hinduism and Buddhism.

Sukarno’s successor, Suharto, was more aggressive in suppressing Muslim groups that were seen threatening the state. Advocacy of an Islamic state was deemed subversion. Hundreds of Muslim leaders were jailed and publications were banned. Muslim political parties had to pledge fealty to the government.

But when the Suharto dictatorship ended in 1998 after 32 years, and Indonesia embarked on a turbulent democratic transition, all those restrictions evaporated. Suddenly, clerics and political parties were free to renew their calls for sharia.

‘IT IS OUR RIGHT’

“Pancasila has been a disaster for our country,” said Irfan S. Awwas, the leader of the Indonesian Mujahadeen Council. “We are the world’s biggest Muslim country. It is our right to be governed by sharia.”

Awwas spent 13 years in prison on subversion charges during Suharto’s reign for promoting sharia. Now he holds pro-sharia rallies across the country.

The growth of the Mujahadeen Council and other conservative groups has been fueled in part by a feeling that radical Islam is the prescription to quell the poverty, crime and other social problems that have wracked Indonesia since Suharto’s downfall.

“With him gone, we are supposedly in a period of reform, but it’s not changing people’s lives,” said Ubaydillah Salman, the managing editor of Sabili, a Muslim magazine that has written glowing stories about the Taliban Brigade. “People are frustrated, and they see Islam as the answer to all their problems.”

The Laskar Jihad, like fundamentalist Islamic groups in the Palestinian territories and elsewhere in the Arab world, has won new members because it has set up health clinics and schools in poor communities. Sharia supporters also say strict Islamic punishments will combat crime.

Political parties that support the implementation of sharia have made headway. The leader of the largest such party was elected vice president last year, and collectively, the parties control 24 percent of the seats in parliament. Still, most political leaders and the country’s largest Muslim groups have refused to bend to demands to impose sharia.

“It’s a simple-minded solution for our very complicated problems,” said Ahmad Syafii Maarif, the chairman of Muhammadiyah, a Muslim social organization with 10 million members. “Adopting sharia will just divide our society further.”

Activists promoting sharia have set their sights not on the national parliament in Jakarta but on smaller cities such as Tasikmalaya, which have recently been given expanded lawmaking powers by the central government. Last year, after being lobbied by a coalition of pro-sharia groups, the local legislature passed a five-year plan that calls for Tasikmalaya to develop as a center of Islamic values.

“Religious preaching and government policies should go hand in hand,” said the governor of Tasikmalaya, Tatang F. Hakim. “It is our responsibility to follow the demands of the people.”

But Abdul Fatah Syamsuddin, leader of the pro-sharia Islamic Youth Forum, said local police have been slow to enforce laws against prostitution and pornography. And, he said, the police have not cracked down on alcohol sales because a law banning liquor is still being debated by the legislature.

“That’s why the Taliban Brigade is important,” he said. “They are taking matters into their own hands.”

A CITY TRANSFORMED

After expounding on the benefits of sharia for an hour in his living room, Zainal Mutaqqien, the Taliban Brigade leader, jumped out of his chair and unlocked a large wooden cabinet to the right of a poster of bin Laden.

Out came a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label Scotch whisky, followed by a jug of Burgundy, a flask of creme de cacao, some creme de menthe and a liter of Cointreau.

“This is what we’ve seized,” he gushed. “This shouldn’t be allowed in Tasikmalaya.”

Sensing his boss’s excitement, an aide rushed off to retrieve a plastic bag containing dozens of pornographic video discs, including volumes one through six of a compilation titled “American Hard-Core.”

“Nobody should be watching this filth,” he said.

The governor’s edicts and exhortations, as well as the Taliban Brigade’s raids, have transformed this city and the surrounding district, a lush farming region that is home to 2 million people. Women who used to walk through the market with their long hair waving in the wind now wear scarves. Karaoke parlors, theaters and cafes have shut down. The restaurant at the Mahkota Hotel, like almost every eatery here, has stopped offering liquor.

At the Sinta Cafe, only one table was occupied on a recent Friday night. The management stopped serving liquor six months ago after two Taliban Brigade warnings. Beer, said entertainment manager Deni Wardiana, was still available but was not on the menu.

“What’s wrong with a drink?” he said. “It should be up to people to choose.”

But several residents and business owners said they were unwilling to confront the Taliban Brigade or even talk to government officials.

“People are too scared,” said Reni, a secretary who was sipping a beer with her daughter and son-in-law at the Sinta Cafe. “The Taliban have connections with the police.”

During the day, Reni said, she wears loose clothes and a head scarf. At the cafe, however, she was dressed in a tight pink top, her coifed bob uncovered. “Not wearing a head scarf doesn’t mean I don’t love Allah,” she noted.

The Big difference between Indonesia and Malaysia is that the Malaysian national constitution does not allow sharia or Islamic law. Although in two Malaysian states the extremist Islam party (PAS) has control, and tried to institute sharia law - it was not allowed by the Malaysian constitution. IMHO - the Indonesian government has to take a stronger hand against Islamic extremism as Malaysia has done. They also need to institute an Internal Security Act (ISA) as Malaysia and Singapore havw to use as a tool to combat terrorism. Indonesia is a hornets nest and we're in the middle of it.

But I also see how former U.S. foreign policies have contributed to the rise of extremism in Indonesia and by extension all of S.E. Asia. This article gives a good short synopsis of Indonesian history.

From what I understand, the U.S. supported the Suharto dictatorship - and sounds like maybe he went overboard in suppressing Islam in Indonesia - infact I believe the 4 Muslim clerics, including Abu Bakar Bashir & Hambali, that are deemed responsible for spreading radical Islam to Malaysia & Singapore - were all imprisoned in Indonesia during Suharto's dictatorship. After their imprisonment they fled Suharto's repressive dictatorship to spread Islamic fundamentalism in Malaysia. Also could the current rise in Islamic extremism in Indonesia be a backlash to 32 years of the repressive Suharto dictatorship?

But IMHO U.S. responsibility doesn't end there. The 4 Muslim clerics came to Malaysia to spread Islamic fundamentalism - but during that time they also went on a US CIA/Pak ISI invited and supported jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 80s. And from what I've read - that was the turning point - when they came back to Malaysia - their teaching changed from Islamic fundamentalism to militant Islamic extremism. These 4 clerics apparently had a hand in starting Islamic militant groups & terrorist cells in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia & Philippines. Somewhere along the way they hooked up with the al-Qaeda. Their students went on to be teachers of Islamic extremism, jihadis and terrorists. From 4 Indonesian Muslim clerics spawned a whole fanatic extremist monster. But just as the U.S. helped create this terrorist monster.... we also can and must help destroy it......Jen

-- posted by JenL_2