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May 30, 2006

Malaysia: 12 Islamists Arrested, Trained By Al Qaeda Member

Yesterday, Reuters via Yahoo News and the Melbourne Age reported that 12 Islamist militants, most of them Indonesian nationals, were arrested in Malaysia's province of Sabah, on the island of Borneo. The news was originally broken earlier today by Malaysia's Star newspaper. The 12 were suspected of planning attacks on neighbouring countries. The arrest of 12 members of the group Darul Islam was, according to the Star, the biggest success for Malaysian police against Islamic terrorists for five years.

In 2001, the Malaysian police had cracked down on a group called Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM). This group, like Darul Islam, has links with the group Jemaah Islamiyah. This group is responsible for the bombings on Bali in 2002, which killed 202 people, and on the same island on October 1 last year, killing 26 people.

The 12-man Darul Islam group was comprised of 10 Indonesians, and had two Malaysian nationals. Theu had been under surveillance for months, and were apprehended off the coasts of Sandakan and Tawau.

An unnamed source said: "It was hard work. The Malaysian police had been tracking their movements over the last six months. Then they moved in to smash the militant group before it could carry out its plans. It’s certainly one of the biggest anti-terrorist successes." The same individual claimed several firearms were discovered, including bomb-making instructions, downloaded from the internet.

One of the Malaysians in the group was a teacher in a religious school, who gradusted in Arabic literature from a university in Syria. The other Malaysian is a graduate of Universii Sains Malaysia in Penang.

At least 11 members of Darul Islam are being held under 2-year detention orders, under the Internal Security Act, at the Kamunting detention centre in Perak.

Sabah lies close to other nations, its land borders Indonesia, and is close to the Philippines. It is a popular tourist destination, and though no target of the group was identified, Sabah would be an appropriate location for the group.

We reported on May 5 that the current main figure of Jemaah Islamiyah, Noordin Top had established links with Darul Islam (the abode of Islam). He had made a network of Islamist supporters, which included a cell of Darul Islam on West Java.

Darul Islam is, according to the Star, led by Sekarmadji Kartosoewirjo. It was formed in the 1940s, before the time that Indonesia officially became a nation in 1950. In the 1950s it led a series of rebellions against the secular government of Indonesia, led by Sukarno. Darul Islam was put down with force by 1962, with most of its leadership killed. In the mid-1970s, the group began a renaissance, with the emergence of its offshoot Komando Jihad, which made terror attacks upon airlines and airports. A fuller account of Darul Islam and its various offshoots was made by the International Crisis Group in October last year. A summary can be found in Winds of Change.

Latest news from the Malaysia Star states that one of the 12 arrested Darul Islam members had been trained in Afghanistan by Al Qaeda. The individual, an Indonesian, is also said to have learned how to handle arms and manufacture bombs. He also gave training for members of the group in Indonesia and the Philippines.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has instructed Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohd Bakri Omar to release a full report on the arrest and activities of the 12 arrested individuals. Musa Aman, who is Malaysia's Security Council chairman, claimed that he had not been briefed on the operation.

In another article, the Star states that Indonesia's foreign minister, Hassan Wirayuda, has praised the Malaysian police for their actions. "This is a good sign. I certainly welcome this," he told reporters earlier today.

"The Indonesian police, with the cooperation of its Malaysian counterpart, arrested several people a few months ago for smuggling explosive materials into Indonesia from Tawau," he said.

However, he said that Darul Islam had effectively ceased as a movement in Indonesia since the 1960s. "However, as an ideology and political orientation, it has continued to aspire the formation of an Islamic state," he claimed.

The group Darul Islam has links with the Filipino terror group, based in Mindanao and the southwestern islands, Abu Sayyaf. This group, a renegade offshoot of the Moro National Liberation Front, conducts kidnappings for ransom, and beheads people, and has used terror for profit. Its most devastating attack happened on February 27, 2004, when a ferry was bombed by the group. 116 people died.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 30, 2006 9:18 PM

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