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Justice. Only Justice Shall Thou Pursue
Showing posts with label Jemaah Islamiyah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jemaah Islamiyah. Show all posts
Dulmatin, a senior member of Jemaah Islamiyah, the armed Islamic terror group, was killed in a police raid at a Jakarta internet cafe. The US had a $10 million bounty on his head. Jemaah Islamiyah also appears to be renaming/remaking itself as al Qaeda in Indonesia.
Tuesday's raids, which came just a day before President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was to address the Australian parliament, set forensics experts scrambling to quickly confirm the Jemaah Islamiah leader's identity.
Indonesian National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said officers worked through Tuesday night to perform visual and DNA-based matches on Dulmatin's body after his shooting in a Jakarta internet cafe.
General Danuri said the news was conveyed to Dr Yudhoyono in Canberra about 2pm AEDT yesterday, enabling the President to announce minutes later to a parliamentary lunch in his honour that Dulmatin was dead.
It was the first official confirmation the regional terror leader had been killed.
Dulmatin was the bomb maker in the deadly Bali bombing, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. He was also known to have ties with Abu Sayyaf.
The Administration wants to bring Hambali, who has been linked to numerous terror attacks in Indonesia and is seen as a key link between Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah, to trial in the DC federal court.
Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, was allegedly Usama bin Laden's point man in Indonesia and, until his capture in August 2003, was believed to be the main link between Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah, the terror group blamed for the 2002 bombing on the island of Bali.
Other terrorism trials also may occur in Washington and New York City under a proposal being discussed within the Obama administration, according to U.S. officials briefed on the plan, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss private planning meetings.
Authorities already have begun discussing the intense security measures needed to bring Hambali and others before a Washington federal judge, the officials said.
Conducting a trial in the nation's capital would be a symbolic repudiation of the policies of former President George W. Bush, who portrayed Hambali as a success story in the Bush administration's program of interrogating terror suspects in secret CIA prisons overseas.
Bush said such interrogations, which included the simulated drowning technique of waterboarding, helped crack alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and led authorities to Hambali. Under intense questioning at a CIA "black site," Hambali revealed a plan for another wave of suicide hijackings in the U.S., Bush said.
President Obama already has decided that Mohammed will face trial in New York and has said he believes criminal courts can handle even the most dangerous terrorists. If Hambali's trial were held in Washington's federal courthouse, the country's most significant terrorism trials in generations will be conducted in the two cities targeted in the Sept. 11. 2001, attacks.
This has more to do with symbolism than any actual national security or criminal justice approach. In fact, that the Obama Administration is looking to pursue a criminal justice approach to Hambali raises serious questions for the remaining terrorists being detained at Guantanamo Bay as to an equal protection argument - some terrorists are being given tribunals while others are being afforded the opportunity to be tried in federal court, even though the outcome is supposedly preordained (both President Obama and AG Holder have said that Khalid Sheikh Mohammad would never be released regardless of the trial outcome).
There was no reason to push for trials in federal court when the tribunal system was set up to handle precisely these kinds of trials - a due process system that allows a systematic handling of the cases without bottling up the federal court system or imposing still more security burdens on localities like New York or Washington DC.
In New York, the security costs for the trial are looking to run around $200 million per year, and experts warn that the trial may run five years. Do the math. That's $1 billion for the New York terror trials, which makes little sense when the tribunals could have resulted in permanent incarceration without the hassle or the costs all while allowing a due process and legal protections to the terrorists (and the Obama Administration admits that the tribunals are legitimate and can be used in some cases).
Moreover, the security situation in DC is more difficult given the fact that the DC police and Capitol police are the fraction of the size of the NYPD and the security needed for the trials would be considerable.
The Hambali case was tailor made for a tribunal and yet the Administration is pushing this? It's mistake and one that simply tries to push a political agenda over legitimate security and legal necessities.
The Telegraph is reporting that Osama Bin Laden may have been quite close to successfully carrying out an assassination attempt against President Bill Clinton in 1996. The President was in the Phillipines attended the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) and was supposed to meet a local politician by crossing a bridge in Manila.
At one point during his stay, he was scheduled to visit a local politician, his route taking him across a bridge in central Manila.
But as the presidential motorcade was about to set off, secret service officers received a "crackly message in one earpiece" saying intelligence agents had picked up a message suggesting an attack was imminent.
The transmission used the words "bridge" and "wedding" – a terrorists code word for assassination.
The motorcade was quickly re-routed and American agents later discovered a bomb had been planted under the bridge.
The subsequent US investigation into the plot "revealed that it had been masterminded by a Saudi terrorist living in Afghanistan – a man named Osama bin Laden".
Although al Qaeda members have admitted targeting Mr Clinton in the 1990s, no evidence has previously emerged suggesting the group's leader was involved or that the terrorists came close to succeeding.
This report, if true, would indicate that bin Laden was active earlier in targeting the US than previously considered.
The Philippines is home to another Islamist terror group, Jemaah Islamiyah, which has ties to al Qaeda. Several major al Qaeda plots have originated in the Philippines, including Operation Bojinka, which was a precursor to the 9/11 attacks. Bojinka was set to commence in January 1995 and included the mass targeting of planes flying from Asia to the US.
Multiple bombs were detonated, killing at least eight people at a Jakarta Marriott and a Ritz Carlton. At least 53 people were injured. Both were known to have high security, and despite that, the terrorists murdered eight people. Indeed, the Marriott was the scene of a deadly bombing in 2003, which killed 12 and wounded 150.
Suicide bombers set off explosions at two hotels here Friday morning that killed eight people and wounded 53, police said, in Indonesia's worst terrorist attack in four years.
National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said the bodies of two suicide bombers were found near the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton in the city's central business district. At least one of the eight killed was a foreigner, but he said four bodies have yet to be identified. Eighteen of the people injured by were foreigners, he said.
A security sweep of the Marriott after the blast revealed another device in a room, which was defused. That suggests that the bombers were able to gain access to the hotel as guests.
The suicide bombers used explosive they were keeping in a room at the Marriott, Mr. Danuri said. The first bomb was detonated at the Marriott at 7:47 a.m. local time at the lounge in the lobby, near a meeting of foreign business people. That explosion killed five. The second bomb was detonated at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel 10 minutes later, on a second floor restaurant, killing two. One person later died in a hospital. The streets outside the two hotels, which sit adjacent to each other in a new business district in central part of the capital city, were covered in shattered glass and debris.
The dead included Timothy Mackay, chief executive of PT Holcim Indonesia, the local unit of Swiss cement maker Holcim Ltd., a spokesman for the company said.
Mr. Mackey was among several victims attending an Indonesian business forum held at the J.W. Marriott Friday morning. The meeting, organized by consulting firm CastleAsia, was part of a series of events sponsored by the firm that gathers prominent business executives and political leaders to discuss Indonesian affairs.
So, who was behind the attacks? My best guess would be none other than Jemaah Islamiyah, which has ties to al Qaeda. Others suspect that it might be a splinter group that is dissatisfied with the leadership. The hotels are seen as symbols of the West, particularly the United States. The Marriott had been used by the US embassy for various events over the years, so the attacks are show an intent to attack a symbol of the United States.
Moreover, it shows the terrorists' willingness to repeatedly attack high value targets.
UPDATE: CCTV at the Marriott hotel captured the blast:
Meanwhile, Manchester United, which had been scheduled to compete in a soccer competition in Indonesia and which was planning on staying at the Marriott, has withdrawn from the competition.
CONVICTED Bali nightclub bombers have feasted on kebabs with Indonesia's anti-terrorism chief at an evening party held at his house.
The party, which brought together more than 20 Muslim hardliners and former terrorists who have shown "regret" for their actions, was the latest "soft" strategy in Indonesia's anti-terror campaign to try and turn former militants into informers, or advocates of religious moderation.
"We approach the terrorists with a pure heart,'' Brigadier General Surya Dharma, the head of Indonesia's anti-terror unit and host of the party, told Associated Press.
"We are all Muslims. We make them our brothers, not our enemy."
Mubarok, who is serving a life sentence for planning and carrying out the Bali bombings, was temporarily released from prison to attend the party, which was free of armed guards. He led the prayers at the celebration, timed to coincide with the breaking of the fast during the holy month of Ramadan.
Those key individuals involved in the Bali bombings, Islamic terrorists associated with Jemaah Islamiyah, have repeatedly seen their already short incarcerations reduced despite the fact that they were involved in a terrorist group that murdered 202 people and wounded another 267.
Now, we see that the people responsible for going after terrorists in Indonesia are wining and dining with the people who have no problem murdering tourists and engaging in mass casualty attacks.
One has to wonder just how serious the Indonesian government is in dealing with counterterrorism against the Islamists when they have no problem inviting them to feasts.
The fifth anniversary of the attacks is tomorrow - October 12.
UPDATE: Here's the link to my posting on the reduced sentence for the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah.
The Philippine military says 57 people, including 26 soldiers, have been killed in clashes between government troops and militants on the country's volatile southern island of Jolo.
Military officials said Friday fighting broke out Thursday when rebels from the Abu Sayyaf militant group and Moro National Liberation Front fighters ambushed a group of soldiers transporting supplies.
At least 31 rebels have been killed in the fighting.
The clashes are the latest in a recent wave of violence in the southern Philippines and more troops are being deployed to respond to the surge in violence.
Troops have been massing in the south since early July when 14 marines were killed on the nearby island of Basilan. Ten of them were beheaded.
Abu Sayyaf is aligned with al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah, and their goals are the same - to impose Islamic rule over their dominion. They've used the Phillipine archipelago for shelter from military action, and engage in piracy, kidnapping, and sabotage in addition to ambushing military forces arrayed against them.
Indonesian police on Friday announced the capture on June 9 of Zarkasih, the leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, believed to be the Southeast Asian wing of the al-Qaida international terrorist network.
Indonesian authorities captured one of Jemaah Islamiyah's (JI) top thugs, along with flow charts of who knew whom. JI has ties to al Qaeda and has been implicated in multiple bombings and terrorist attacks in the region, including the Bali bombing that killed more than 200 people. Abu Dujana was apprehended along with a treasure trove of intel:
Indonesian police today confirmed they captured Indonesian’s most wanted terrorist Abu Dujana in a raid on the weekend.
There has been intense speculation that the terrorist leader was caught in one of a series of raids by Indonesia’s anti-terror squad, Detachment 88, across central Java.
Indonesian national police spokesman Inspector General Sisno Adiwinoto confirmed the fugitive’s arrest at a press conference in Jakarta today.
“Abu Dujana has been arrested with seven others,” he said.
The intel captured may prove to be even more important than Dujana's capture. He was captured along with six other terrorist suspects.
I have a bad feeling about this. A real bad feeling. Radical Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir was released from an Indonesian jail after serving reduced time for links to the 2002 Bali bombings. He's completely unrepentant and states plainly:
"I will maintain my struggle to uphold sharia (Islamic law), he added, before getting into a black van.
That would include jihad - the violent struggle kind, not the deeply intense personal kind of struggle.
Seen by the West as the spiritual head of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) regional militant network, Bashir was convicted of being part of a conspiracy behind the Bali bombings that killed 202 people, many of them Australian tourists.
In Australia, Prime Minister John Howard told parliament: "I want (Indonesia's politicians) to understand from me, on behalf of the government, how extremely disappointed, even distressed, millions of Australians will be at the release."
Brian Deegan, whose son Josh was one of 88 Australians killed in the Bali attack, told Sky television: "Abu Bashir really is to us what Osama bin Laden was to the Americans."
In Jakarta, U.S. embassy spokesman Max Kwak said: "we were deeply disappointed that a person convicted of a 'sinister conspiracy' was given such a short prison sentence."
His sentence was originally 30 months, and even that was reduced on 'good behavior.' I think his sentence came out to a couple of days per victim killed in the Bali bombings. And JI isn't just a regional terrorist group, but one with significant ties to al Qaeda and espouses the same brand of militant Islam.
Well done Indonesia. As we saw with Zarqawi - revolving door justice is no justice at all. Zarqawi had been released from Jordanian prison in 1999 in an amnesty following the death of King Hussein. Zarqawi proceeded to Iraq where he became one of the most ruthless and bloodthirsty terrorists in the world, with the death of thousands on his head. Will we be saying the same thing of Abu Bakar Bashir in a few years? I pray that isn't the case, but know full well that we may be hearing about how he was the mastermind or inspiration for some other mass casualty attack in South East Asia/Pacific Rim.
UPDATE: Doing the math, this murderous bastard did 3.81 days ((26months*30 days)/202 victims)of time for each of the 202 people he was found responsible for murdering. Yeah, that's justice alright.
UPDATE: Others taking note of Abu Bakar Bashir's release and his glorious reception by his followers, which stands in stark contrast to the muted cries of horror from the families of the 202 victims who were murdered by terrorists affiliated with, and who took direction from Bashir: Little Green Footballs, Clarity & Resolve, Global Security, and Don Singleton.
At this time, there are reports of at least three blast on the resort island of Bali.
Bali police spokesman Lt. Col. Antonius Reniban confirmed that several blasts went off, but he could not say if they were bombs.
"There have been some explosions in Jimbaran and Kuta area, but we cannot give any details," he said. "Police are still investigating."
Odds are that it wasn't Militant Quakers but the really militant Islamic terrorists.
It's not like they haven't targeted Bali before. They killed 202 people back in 2002. al-Qaida-linked militant group Jemaah Islamiyah took credit for those bombings.
