|
|
Al Qaeda 'behind Ambon and
other conflicts'
|
CNN
World News
May 9, 2002
Posted: 6:55 PM HKT (1055 GMT)
|
From Maria
Ressa
CNN Correspondent
SINGAPORE (CNN) -- Officials
in Southeast Asia have attributed recent violence in Ambon,
Indonesia -- where nearly 10,000 people have died in
Muslim-Christian conflict since 1999 -- to al Qaeda operatives.
Intelligence officials in Southeast
Asia say the clashes between Christians and Muslims on the former
'Spice Islands' are just one of several separatist conflicts
fueled by the terror network blamed for the September 11 attacks
in the Unites States.
Among the others are the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front, the largest Muslim separatist group in
the Philippines, the KMM, a separatist group in Malaysia, Jemaah
Islamiya in Singapore and Laskar Jundullah and Laskar Jihad in
Indonesia.
Singapore's Home Affairs Minister
Wong Kan Seng say the group's local ambitions have a commonality
that has attracted the attentions of al Qaeda.
"Many of these organizations
in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia have had their
own origins, their own history, their own records of violence and
their own agendas, and yet, they were able to link up with the
common cause with Islamic jihad," Wong told CNN.
"And somehow, the Al-Qaeda has
been able to transmit the kind of sense of jihad to the local
groups while enabling the local groups to keep their own agenda in
causing problems to their own countries concerned," he said.
Ambon arrests
The separatist groups for their
part vehemently deny the charges.
Still, investigators say in the
early 90s, Muslim fighters from Southeast Asia were sent to
Afghanistan for a baptism of fire.
Today, intelligence officials in
the region say the training ground is Ambon, Indonesia -- where
nearly 10,000 people have died in Muslim-Christian violence since
1999.
Officials have begun arresting
members of two groups which bring Muslim fighters to Ambon.
In March, a member of Laskar
Jundullah was arrested in the Philippines and last week, Indonesia
arrested the head of Java-based Laskar Jihad (Holy Warriors).
Indonesian authorities have yet to
press terrorist charges against Ja'far Umar Thalib, commander of
the paramilitary group, and his incarceration has even elicited
some government sympathy.
Mixed messages
"The Indonesians understand
what needs to be done (in regards to Thalib). I think it's a
question of when and how and whether they are going to act as soon
as possible or whether they are going to wait for the appropriate
time," said Wong.
Contributing to the mixed messages
coming from the Indonesian government, Vice President Hamzah Haz
visited the detained commander arrested for inciting violence in
the riot-torn Maluku islands.
Haz spent one and a half hours with
Laskar Jihad group, which has been blamed for fueling sectarian
violence in Maluku.
Thalib was detained on Saturday in
connection with an attack on Christians in Soya village on April
28, which killed 13 people.
|
