Homeland Security

DATE=02/02/2003

TYPE=EDITORIAL

NUMBER=0-10409

TITLE=EDITORIAL: GOING AFTER JEMAAH ISLAMIYAH

INTERNET=Yes

CONTENT=THIS EDITORIAL IS BEING RELEASED FOR USE BY ALL SERVICES.

Anncr: Next, an editorial reflecting the views of the United States Government:

Voice: Indonesian authorities have now implicated the Southeast Asian terrorist group, Jemaah Islamiyah, in the October 12th Bali terrorist attack. More than one-hundred ninety people were killed when bombs exploded in a popular nightclub district filled with tourists.

Indonesian General Da'ai [dah-eye] Bachtiar [back-tee-are] said that Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir [bah-sheer], the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, approved the terrorist operation. Mr. Bashir has been charged with treason in a series of church bombings in 2000 and is awaiting trial.

Jemaah Islamiyah is an al-Qaida-linked terrorist group with cells operating in several Southeast Asian countries. The goal of Jemaah Islamiyah is to create an Islamic state made up of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the southern Philippines. Members of Jemaah Islamiyah have been trained and funded by the al-Qaida leadership to pursue al-Qaida's terrorist agenda.

The effort to track down members of Jemaah Islamiyah and to freeze their assets continues. Since September 11th, 2001, the U.S. Treasury Department has frozen the assets in the U.S. of two-hundred fifty-seven individuals and organizations. This month, the U.S. Treasury Department added two leaders of Jemaah Islamiyah to the list.

Nurjaman Riduan Isamuddin [noor-jah-man rid-wan iss-ah-moo-din], known as Hambali, is a senior Jemaah Islamiyah leader with close ties to al-Qaida. Hambali is believed to have been involved in a 1995 plot to bomb eleven U.S. commercial airliners in Asia. He directed a foiled plot in 2001 to attack U.S. and other Western interests in Singapore. Hambali is reputed to be Jemaah Islamiyah's director of operations for Southeast Asia and he also oversees the group's financing.

The second addition to the U.S. Treasury Department's list of terrorists is Mohamad Iqbal [ick-bal] Abdurrahman [ab-dur-rakh-man], known as Abu Jibril. He is a close associate of Hambali. Before his arrest by Malaysian authorities in June 2001, Abu Jibril served as a financial conduit for al-Qaida in Southeast Asia.

The U.S. will continue to work with other nations to eliminate the scourge of terrorism. As President George W. Bush said, terrorists "can't hide from the United States of America. You may hide for a brief period of time, but pretty soon we're going to put the spotlight on you, and we'll bring you to justice."

Anncr: That was an editorial reflecting the views of the United States Government. If you have a comment, please write to Editorials, V-O-A, Washington, D-C, 20237, U-S-A. You may also comment at www-dot-voanews-dot-com-slash-editorials, or fax us at (202) 619-1043.