Jakarta's Ritz Carlton & JW Marriot new Bombing

[OPSSG]

According to the International Crisis Group, Noordin Mohammed Top's network is proving to be larger and more sophisticated than previously thought. This 27 August 2009 briefing examines the linkages among the people Noordin drew on for the 17 July attacks in an effort to understand his support base. It is focused on the local network, mostly on Java, not on the overseas links, as those were still being uncovered as this went to press. Read the 27 August 2009 briefing here.

 

[OPSSG]

Indonesian National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri announced on 17 September 2009 that Noordin was killed in a police raid along with three other terrorists. Police hunting for suspects in bombings of July, 2009 tracked the seven suspects to Solo in Central Java and besieged a village house on the outskirts overnight. The raid ended near daybreak when an explosion was detonated inside the home. Four suspected militants were killed and three were captured.

Following from that raid, Noordin Top's laptop revealed that the group had planned a 9-11 aviation attack which included the recruitment of a former Garuda staff, Mohamad Syahrir, into Noordin Top's organisation (click here for more details provided by RSIS). It is little wonder that for the duration of the APEC summit in Singapore, there was always a pair of fighters in the air. This latest development would have important security implications for regional civil aviation.

 

[Tavarisch]

Following from that raid, Noordin Top's laptop revealed that the group had planned a 9-11 aviation attack which included the recruitment of a former Garuda staff, Mohamad Syahrir, into Noordin Top's organisation (click here for more details provided by RSIS). It is little wonder that for the duration of the APEC summit in Singapore, there was always a pair of fighters in the air. This latest development would have important security implications for regional civil aviation.

Woah... South East Asia isn't turning very safe anymore... it'll be a matter of time before they pick targets in Malaysia...

 

[OPSSG]

You should take note of the Maguindanao massacre (in Philippines) that occurred on the morning of November 23, 2009. Some have called the called the Maguindanao massacre the single deadliest event for journalists in history, where at least 34 journalists are known to have died in this one incident. Beyond the above, there are a number of insurgent groups in the Philippines like the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf, whose 'biz models' includes assassinations, kidnappings, and extortion.

Woah... South East Asia isn't turning very safe anymore... it'll be a matter of time before they pick targets in Malaysia...

South East Asia (and not just Indonesia) has never been very safe and as Winston Churchill once said:

"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."​

Here's a 117 page pdf booklet on 'Radical Islamic Ideology in Southeast Asia'. In particular, you should read the first article, which deals with the jihadi ideology in Malaysia. And you will find that American scholars have an unflattering view of the Malaysian government attitude towards radical Islamic groups prior to 11 September 2001. Their view has now changed but keep in mind that for a certain period, during the regime of Dr Mahathir, it was very unflattering.

Beyond those advocating a radical Islamic agenda even political events abroad have resulted in attacks on Singapore (which is located in SE Asia). And if you look at SE Asia, you will also need to read up on Timor-Leste and Indonesia's role there up till 1999. The situation there remains volatile. Timor-Leste was so volatile that at one stage, in 2002, Singapore admitted that we deployed 160 combat peacekeepers (ie. conducted 'Green Helmet' patrols in UN parlance) within the Thai Battalion sector in the south-western district of Kova Lima in Timor-Leste (which was an increase from our original 60 Green Helmets on top of our other small contributions to INTERFET detailed by Mindef). There's also a video called 'SAF Peacekeepers in Timor-Leste', which provides details on our Green Helmet patrols in the district of Cova Lima in Timor-Leste (which shares a border with Indonesia's West Timor) with robust ROEs to secure the border, to weed out armed groups and to disarm criminal elements. The fact that there was little or no news coverage of the activities of the SAF does not mean that there was no danger.

You many be too young to remember but on 26 March 1991, four Pakistani terrorists, claiming to be members of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), hijacked SQ 117 from Subang Airport in Kuala Lumpur with 129 passengers and crew. There are two points to note on this incident:

(i) On 27 March 1991, members of our Special Operations Force (SOF) stormed the plane, killing the four Pakistani hijackers and freeing all passengers and crew.

(ii) The late Ms Benazir Bhutto issued a denial of PPP's involvement. However, it should be noted that Asif Ali Zardori, the husband of the late Ms Bhutto and current President of Pakistan was included among several Pakistani prisoners whom the hijackers of SQ117 wanted released.​

Prior to that on 17 March 1985 and on 21 December 1986, Palestinian terrorists set off more bombs at or around Faber House, along Orchard Road in Singapore. We believe the bombs were targeted at the Israeli embassy (then located at Faber House) but no one was killed. One of the Palestinian terrorists, Fuad Hassin al-Shara confessed to the bombings when he was captured by the Israelis in 1991.

Read post #312 of another thread for more Singapore related details and incidents.

 

[STURM]

Apart from a few apartments and office blocks which have started to place mirrors under vehicles, on the surface at least, there appear to have been no visible security precautions taken at 5 star hotels and other potential targets in KL. Compared to 2-3 years back however, there has been an increased armed police presence at airports and embassies.

Following the killing of Noordin Topp, officials in the Indonesian government went to great lenghts to emphasis that Noordin Top was Malaysian, conveniantly falling to mention that people like Noordin Top were radicalised by Indonesians like Sungkar and Hambali.

 

[OPSSG]

Following the killing of Noordin Topp, officials in the Indonesian government went to great lenghts to emphasis that Noordin Top was Malaysian, conveniantly falling to mention that people like Noordin Top were radicalised by Indonesians like Sungkar and Hambali.

I feel your pain. All I can say is that, we, as members of ASEAN, need to solve this problem together.

 

[STURM]

You many be too young to remember but on 26 March 1991, four Pakistani terrorists, claiming to be members of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), hijacked SQ 117 from Subang Airport in Kuala Lumpur with 129 passengers and crew.

Was there not an earlier incident when the Japanese Red Army tried to blow up the refinery at Pulau Bukom? In return for surrendering they were later allowed to leave for Kuwait, escorted by some Commando officers. Way back I think in 74 or 75, there was an incident where some Red Army members took some hostages at the American consulate at the AIA building in KL. After the Japanese government released some prisoners, the Red Army people were flown to a 3rd country.

Ken Conboy's, 'The 2nd Front' has excellent information on the jihadist network in Indonesia.

 

[OPSSG]

Was there not an earlier incident when the Japanese Red Army tried to blow up the refinery at Pulau Bukom? In return for surrendering they were later allowed to leave for Kuwait, escorted by some Commando officers.

Yes, on 31 Jan 1974, the Shell Oil Refinery (at Pulau Bukom Besar, south of Singapore) was subject to a blotched attack by 4 terrorists: 2 from the Japanese Red Army (JRA) and 2 from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The 4 terrorists managed to hold five crew members of the a boat named ‘Laju’ as hostages (but two of the Laju hostages managed to escape). The terrorists then agreed to release the remaining crew of the ‘Laju’ in exchange for a party of 'guarantors'. The team of 12 guarantors was led by Mr S.R. Nathan, then MINDEF’s Director of Security & Intelligence (now President of Singapore). The 12-men-team was made up of four SAF Commandos and eight other government officials.

This is why, it is a common Singaporean joke, that when a hostage crisis occurs, we are ready to send our President. This joke is not aimed at belittling the achievements of Mr S.R. Nathan who is undoubtedly very brave. Rather, it is our rather morbid way of coping with the fact that Singapore is a highly sought after terrorist target in SE Asia. Basically, our philosophy is to make it harder for terrorists by working to prepare for as many contingencies as we can realistically train for. Below is a video that explains our concept of operations in relation to the protection of key installations (or POI) like Jurong Island:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1LAQZ1EWGo]Protecting The Lion City [/ame]

Edit: You should pay particular attention to what PTE Wilson Teo says at 2:45min of the video, where he talks about being issued frangible rounds because of concerns of over penetration and the use of computer based training to teach the conscripts about the application of ROEs to different situations.

 

[Ananda]

Following the killing of Noordin Topp, officials in the Indonesian government went to great lenghts to emphasis that Noordin Top was Malaysian, conveniantly falling to mention that people like Noordin Top were radicalised by Indonesians like Sungkar and Hambali.

Please STURM, i'm not trying to keeping score, but many officials in here put emphasis on that since Hambali, Sungkar and even their suposedly spiritual leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir are extermist that have to flee to Malaysia due to Soeharto's crack down. Thus in their point of view they want to blame Malaysia for giving those extermist "safe haven" in the time of Soeharto'e crack down (I've down lines "safe haven' due to the fact this was not Malaysian intentions but that what perceived by some officials and Indonesian in here).

What I'm getting on, just like OPSSG said, the dealling with the cells in SEA have to be dealed by all Asean members, and not throwing stones to each other. It's not wise for some Indonesian to blame Malaysia on the case of Noordin Top, but it's also not wise for some Malaysian to think that the problem lays only in Indonesia.
Like it or not, the cells already active throughout SEA. Only providing and sharing inteligence to each other than Asean nantions can have more possibilities to keep them in check. However they will not going away soon, not in Inodensia, not in Malaysia, not even in Singapore or Thailand or Philipines. Heck some report already said (eventhough unconfirmed) they already in Cambodia.

 

[STURM]

Please STURM, i'm not trying to keeping score, but many officials in here put emphasis on that since Hambali, Sungkar and even their suposedly spiritual leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir are extermist that have to flee to Malaysia due to Soeharto's crack down.

Ananda, no problem , I know you weren't trying to keep score . I was just annoyed that these officials tried to spin the story towards the Malaysian element, when the ideology of JI was born in Indonesia. To be honest, most of what I know about JI is from Ken Conboy's book the 'The 2nd Front. He also wrote one about Kopassus and the national intelligence agency. Have you read them?

Like it or not, the cells already active throughout SEA.

Of course there are. There were Al-Qeda cells active in the US......
It's nearly impossible to keep track of who's doing what. Even with technology and hundreds of air and surface assets, totally preventing people from crossing illegally from Indonesia to Malaysia or from Malaysia to the Philippines is impossible.

I haven't paid much attention to JI despite it being much closer to home. My area of interest has been the long war fought in the 70's and 80's between Israel and Arab groups like the PFLP-GC and others. As I follow events in Chechnya with keen interest, I'm also very interested in the ''jihadist'' Chechians who fought in Afghanistan. In the 'The 2nd Front, Conboy mentions that the Malaysian government only realised the seriousness of the JI presence in 2000. Similiarly, at first the Indonesian government thought that many of the first bombs attacks were business motivated. Up to the 90's, a number of European countries tolerated the presence of ''terrorist'' and ''freedom'' groups on their soil, as long as they didn't operate against their host countries. Of course this changed after 9/11. Anyway, you're right, its only through cooperation and the sharing of intelligence will this problem be contained.

 

[sunshin3]

As I follow events in Chechnya with keen interest, I'm also very interested in the ''jihadist'' Chechians who fought in Afghanistan. In the 'The 2nd Front, Conboy mentions that the Malaysian government only realised the seriousness of the JI presence in 2000.

I have not read Conboy's book. Can you please elaborate on how the Malaysian government viewed the JI presence prior to Sept 11?

Up to the 90's, a number of European countries tolerated the presence of ''terrorist'' and ''freedom'' groups on their soil, as long as they didn't operate against their host countries.

According to Conboy, which European countries tolerated the presence of ''terrorist'' and ''freedom'' groups on their soil?

 

[STURM]

I have not read Conboy's book. Can you please elaborate on how the Malaysian government viewed the JI presence prior to Sept 11?

In his book he writes anout how the Malaysian government was slow waking up to the fact that certain Indonesians living in Malaysia had a JI link. It seems when told by Indonesian officials about this, the Malaysians at first insisted these were religous groups. He does however say that the Malaysians later moved very swiftly later against these people.

According to Conboy, which European countries tolerated the presence of ''terrorist'' and ''freedom'' groups on their soil??

There was nothing in Conboy's book about Arabs, I got it from other books. From what I've read, certain groups mantained a presence in Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Czeckoslovakia during the 70's and 80's. Up until the time it was declared a terrorist group and banned, the LTTE had an office in a London suburb, used to collect funds.

 

[Ananda]

In his book he writes anout how the Malaysian government was slow waking up to the fact that certain Indonesians living in Malaysia had a JI link. It seems when told by Indonesian officials about this, the Malaysians at first insisted these were religous groups. He does however say that the Malaysians later moved very swiftly later against these people.

STURM, sorry for the late repply on Ken's book. Haven't read the book, try to find some of his writing, and found some excert on his writing on Kopassus. Not really a supporting tone for Kopassus, but hey I think no western writers this days want to have write something positive on Kopassus anyway .

Anyway on the Group Issue, Sungkar, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir basically all related to Tanjung Priok incidents back in the early 90's which deemed very embaressing for Soeharto's grip on power. Thus Soeharto's chased them down, however for many people outside his ring of power, this be seen as religious matter (as Soeharto's persecutions on Islamic activists and schools), thus provide intial sympaty from many moeslem in the region.

This perhaps can be seen as part of why Malaysian government slow realizations on the JI cells in the Malaysian soil, brought by this group. For many moeslem, they were first regarded as religious persecutions victims.

Many people even in here after they being chased down and run away to Malaysia, seems already dismissed their mobilizations power, eventhough some evidences already shown that the group and the symphatiser actively recruit some Indonesians to fight in Afghanistan. This Afghanistan Alumny mostly will be back as the prime trainers and recruiters for JI.
Even Soeharto in his last yeras in office turn rather blind eyes to the growing connections from some of Islamic schools in Java with madrassah in Pakistan.

Again this Group already has show their abbility to stay doormant for a long period.