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August 3, 2006

Australia: Islamist Bomb Threats Taken Seriously

We reported on July 28 that a report by Italian News Agency AKI had claimed that an Islamist had suggested that at least 200 jihadists were traveling to the Middle East, in a planned attempt to fight or perform suicide attacks against Israelis.

It appears that there was more to that report. Breaking news from AAP via the Melbourne Age and the Australian claims that the group had also ordered attacks to be made upon countries which support Israel, such as Australia, Britain and the US.

And in Australia, they are taking the threats seriously. The threat had been made by Suaib Didu (pictured), of the Islamic Youth Movement (GPI) (He is also chairman of the Asian Muslim Youth Movement or AMYM, which according to the CounterTerrorism Blog is called AMSEC or ASEAN Muslim Youth Secretariat). Didu had also claimed that his group would be monitoring the reactions of Australia to the situation in the south of Lebanon. Suaib said to the Australian: "We have a lot of support, including in Australia, from people who don't believe Israel's attack is just."

Human Services Minister Joe Hockey has said that the Australian government was taking the reports seriously. The Australian claims that the plan (to attack countries supporting Israel) is being funded in part with cash donated by two Australian/Indonesian businessman.

Hockey said: "I can tell you that the minister for foreign affairs and the Department of Foreign Affairs are investigating what is reported in the papers today and we are treating it very, very seriously."

He confirmed that Australia has been a target for attack for some time, citing the Bali bombing of October 2002, in which 202 people, including 88 Australian tourists died. That event was planned by Jemaah Islamiyah, most of whose operators come from Indonesia.

"We are a target, we always have been a target and we will be for a very long period of time," Mr Hockey said.

Foreign Affairs spokesman for the opposition Kevin Rudd said: "I am concerned that this has sprung up without earlier evidence of action between the governments (of Australia and Indonesia)."

Suaib Didu (sometimes spelled Bidu) is known for his radicalism. He caused bookshops to withdraw publications by left-wing writers in May 2001 after GPI members had threatened bookshops. He said then: "The burning of Franz Magnis-Suseno's books was only a symbolic action (because) all books on communism must be eliminated as they poison the younger generation." He then warned of another raid and book-burning. Magnis-Suseno was a Catholic priest who wrote on Marx. That raid did not happen, because the targeted bookstore capitulated before the threatened raid.

In 2003 Suaib warned that in Indonesia, his group of students, claimed to be 30,000 in number, would attack US interests, saying: "For the U.S. installations here, we will want them to shut down. We will try to take over these places. For McDonald's and KFC we want them to halt operations."

On March 24, 2003, his Islamic Youth Movement/GPI group had harassed foreigners living in Indonesia during a rally. 10 members of GPI were arrested for trying to force foreigners to condemn the US invasion of Iraq, which had taken place five days earlier.

Somewhat amazingly, Suaib is sometimes described as a "moderate". When Abu Bakar Bashir the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islmiyah was in hospital in late October 2002, suspected of involvement with the Bali blasts and also a plot to assassinate then President Megawati, Suaib visited the cleric. Bashir urged him not just to defend the cleric, but also the Islamic struggle. Didu said Bashir did not elaborate. Bashir was later jailed for "giving his consent" to the 2002 Bali bombings.

He had said in October 8, 2001 that there would be 3,125 volunteers going to fight in Afghanistan. More than 300 Indonesians arrived in Pakistan a few days later, according to China People's Daily of October 10, 2001.

According to Time, the Islamic Youth Movement was founded in 1945 and is based in Jakarta. Time also claimed that GPI was a "moderate" group.

Like the FPI (Front Pembela Islam or Islamic Defenders Front) who similarly terrorise and intimidate foreigners and establishments they deem un-Islamic, the GPI appears to be symptomatic of an unwillingness since the demise of Suharto in 1998 for authorities in Indonesia to challenge such blatant Islamist fanatacism. We described this attitude and its deleterious effects in a Special Report. About 90 FPI members have also vowed to go to the Middle East to commit attacks.

The Jakarta Post wrote on July 21 of Suaib's justifications for not preventing the flow of jihadists to the Middle East.

Suaib said that the jihadists had approached him because of a book he had written called Radikalisme: Antara Jihad dan Terorisme (Radicalism: Between Jihad and Terrorism), saying: "I told them it was better to go to Palestine and Lebanon to fight Israel than to stir things up here. I also told them not to attack civilians in their jihad, especially women and children because they are innocent." He quoted the jihadists as saying: "Our main purpose is to stop the Israeli military offensive. We're just trying to defend the oppressed."

He announced that: "Some of them have been trained to be suicide bombers. They would do that only to destroy Israel's vital installations."

He also said: "Most of them are former fighters in Ambon. I will join them but I have to go Ciamis (West Java) first to help my family, who are among the victims of the tsunami."

Ambon in the Moluccas was the scene of horrendous fighting (the Moluccan War) against Christian minorities by Laskar Jihad (Lashkar Jihad), the group led by Jaffar Umar Thalib, and which is thought to have been set up with Indonesian government support.The Moluccan war cost 9,000 lives between 1999 and 2002. On Sunday April 28, 2002, Thalib's men stormed the Christian village of Soya on Ambon, and slaughtered at least 21 people. I have seen a jihadist film of the massacre - men are beaten to death, people burned in their homes, others are beheaded. Children were hacked with machetes, and several of these, and women, were among those slaughtered.

According to the Australian, terrorism experts have warned that Suaib's group has the ability to organise a terrorist attack.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at August 3, 2006 9:58 PM

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