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May 5, 2006

Indonesia: Islamist Leader Has Created Substantive Terror Network

We reported earlier that Noordin Mohammed Top (pictured), the Malaysian-born banker and recruiter for Jemaah Islamiyah narrowly escaped capture, when his hideout at Binangu village near Wonosobo, Central Java, was raided on 29 April.

Today, the Jakarta Post reports that the two individuals who who were arrested in the raids, called Solahudin and Mustafirin, have been formally charged.

On Wednesday, the Jakarta Post announced that a digital video recording containing bomb-making instructions had been found in Noordin Top's Wonosobo hideout. The video showed how to make varieties of bombs, from low impact to high impact.

Noordin Top has been on the run since the suicide bombings on Bali, in which 202 people, many of them Australian tourists, were killed in 2002.

Reports on Noordin Top's activities are now being released by Voice of America News, the Melbourne Age, the Australian, the Bangkok Post, and Nine MSN News.

These reports all state that Noordin Top, whether or not he is going to be arrested by Indonesian police, has built up a strong network which can set off terror attacks of its own accord. The source of all these articles is not one to be taken lightly, as it is written by Dr Sidney Jones, herself the foremost expert on Jemaah Islamiyah. The full report is available from the International Crisis Group, where Dr Jones is the SouthEast Asia director.

A summary of the report can be found on the International Crisis Group's website. The full report, which is 38 pages long, can be downloaded in pdf format HERE, and a version in Microsoft Word can be downloaded HERE.

The report states that Noordin Top relied upon the two individuals who were killed in the 29 April Wonosobo raid for the attacks which were carried out by three suicide bombers in the second Bali attack, on October 1, 2005, as well as others. These individuals were Jabir and Abdul Hadi. The Jakarta Post states that Jabir had become a proficient bomb-maker.

Dr Jones states that for the bombing of the Marriott hotel in Jakarta on 5 August 2003, Noordin Toop had utilised the assistance of Sumatra based JI followers, who had been schooled at the Lukman al-Hakiem school in Malaysia, or the al-Mukmin pesantren (Islamic boarding school) at Ngruki near Solo in Central Java, Indonesia. 12 people were killed and 150 wounded in this car-bomb attack.

For the Australian Embassy bombing of 9 September 2004, which killed 11 and injured more than 200, Top relied on three different networks. These were the East Java division of Jemaah Islamiyah, graduates of JI schools in Central Java, and a West Java-based division of the Darul Islam. This organisation, from which JI originated, began its life before Indonesia was formed. Dr Jones notes that the way Top was outsourcing tasks to other groups showed that he was acting independently.

He ran short of funds following the Australian Embassy bombing, and again brought in assistance from outside individuals. One was an individual Darul Islam faction from the Philippines and the other was a former chief of the Ambon office of the Islamic charity KOMPAK. These did not want to join forces with Noordin Top, but both were arrested in mid-2005, and some of their followers sided with Noordin Top.

Dr Jones notes that the recent loss of Jabir and Abdul Hadi, who acted as couriers for him, is a serious blow to Noordin Top. He is also suffering from a loss of funds. But Dr Jones warns that even if he is arrested, the networks which he utilised "will survive as a potential source of recruits for future operations."

The picture above of Noordin Top shows him at left as he used to appear, and at right as he now styles his appearance.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 5, 2006 10:37 PM

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