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Thank you Detachment 88. -Cindy # Nick Grace contributed to this report. PHOTO CAPTION: "A photo of Noordin Mohammed Top after he was killed during a raid in Java. The photo was taken with a cell phone. Photo provided by Nick Grace." SNIPPET: "Southeast Asia’s most wanted al Qaeda-linked terrorist has been killed during an overnight raid by counterterrorism police in Solo in Central Java, Indonesia. Police have confirmed that the elusive Noordin Mohammed Top has been killed along with four other terrorists during the assault on a safe house in Java." SNIPPET: "Within the past 24 hours, Indonesia's elite...

Jakarta, Indonesia (AP) - Explosive material recovered from the scene of two suicide bombings at hotels in the Indonesian capital is "identical" to that used by the Southeast Asian terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah in earlier attacks, police said. An unexploded bomb left in a room of the J.W. Marriott in Jakarta resembled devices used in attacks on Bali and one found in a recent raid against the network on an Islamic boarding school in Central Java, national police spokesman told a news conference Sunday.

U.S. intelligence officials were caught "off-guard" by the Friday terror attacks against two U.S.-based hotels in Jakarta, Indonesia. A senior U.S. official told ABC News the attacks came as a "surprise." A second U.S. counter-terrorism official said the CIA and other intelligence agencies had given no indication to the White House of "any threat reporting in the last 18 months" involving the Indonesian al Qaeda affiliate, Jemaah Islamiyah. "Any suggestion that the CIA has not taken the JI threat seriously in recent years is wrong," said a CIA spokesman. "No one from the CIA has ever said that this terrorist...

Jakarta - Riduan “Hambali” Isamudin is the mastermind who planned the massacre in Bali in 2002, and the attacks against Christian churches and buildings in 2000. The accusation comes from Mubarok and Ali Imron, both members of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), who say they are willing to testify against the operational chief of the Islamic fundamentalist movement in southeast Asia, who is being held in the detention center in Guantanamo. Mubarok and Ali Imron are being held in the prison in Jakarta, where they are serving a life sentence for their involvement in the attack against churches in the country. In...

A Saudi Al Qaeda operative suspected of involvement in the London 7/7 attacks has been arrested in northwestern Pakistan, FOX News has confirmed. The operative, Zabi-ul-Taifi, was arrested with six other militants on the outskirts of the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, Reuters reported. "Taifi is among those arrested today," an intelligence official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The nationalities of the other militants arrested are being established. One intelligence official told Reuters that it is believed Taifi was the "mastermind" of the July 7, 2005 bombings that rocked the London transportation system when homicide bombers set off explosions...

Yazid Sufaat helped Zacharias Moussaoui obtain the visa he used to enter the United States and funded him, housed two 9/11 hijackers while they were en route to the U.S., acquired tons of ammonium nitrate for the Singapore bombing plot, and, in 2001, attempted to obtain Anthrax for al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Now, he is walking around Malaysia a free man. Reuters, December 10, 2008: KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (Reuters) — Malaysia has released five men held on suspicion of terrorism, including one who has been linked to the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, the country’s home minister said...

COTABATO — Authorities in Mindanao have arrested a Pakistani with alleged links to a Southeast Asian extremist group for making bombs, it was announced yesterday. Muhammand Alpariz was arrested at his apartment in Shariff Kabunsuan province by joint police and military operatives on Tuesday, local 6th Infantry Division spokesman Lt. Col. Julieto Ando said. Found in his possession were "two 60-millimeter mortar shells rigged to improvised explosives devices" and two howitzer shells ready to be attached to similar bombs, said Southern Mindanao police head Chief Superintendent Pedro Tango. "These bombs, if exploded, would cause extensive damage," he added. "He did...

FBI Warns of Potential Terror Attacks The FBI and Department of Homeland Security today issued an analytical "note" to U.S. law-enforcement officials cautioning that al-Qaida terrorists have in the past expressed interest in attacking public buildings using a dozen suicide bombers each carrying 20 kilograms of explosives. Authors with the U.S. Office of Intelligence and Analysis added that they have "no credible or specific information that terrorists are planning operations against public buildings in the United States." The FBI and DHS analysts said they were releasing the note because "it is important for local authorities and building owners and...

BOYOLALI (Indonesia) - For the skullcapped students of the Darusy Syahadah Islamic school, there is no question that the three radical jihadis behind the 2002 bombings on Indonesia's Bali island are heroes. Sheltering from the equatorial sun on the steps of the school's mosque, the students crowd to offer their approval of bombers Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra. Authorities said this week the three bombers will face the firing squad by early November for their role in the attack, which killed 202 people. 'They're holy warriors, that's how I respond, they're holy warriors,' said Sir Muhammad Royhan Syihabuddin Ar-Rohmi, a...

Jemaah islamiyah, a indonesian terror group, is responsible for numemous murders of Christians and the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people, among them several australian tourists. A "Jemaah Islamiyah" blog opened to support Barack Obama.

The Hunt for American al Qaeda The United States is turning up the heat in the hunt for the California boy turned al Qaeda operative, Adam Gadahn, who has been charged with treason and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan. If caught and convicted, Gadahn could face the death penalty. The State Department along with the Department of Diplomatic Security announced the beginning of a publicity campaign in Afghanistan urging locals to provide any information on Gadahn's whereabouts, with a reward if the information leads to his capture. Radio advertisements with information concerning the $1 million reward have...

You’re not going to believe this one: Barack Obama : : Change We Can Believe In | Jemaah Islamiyah For Obama. Jemaah Islamiyah For Obama We are a group that supports social justice for our oppressed Muslim brothers all over the world. We support Barack Obama for President because he is sympathetic to the plight of Muslims. He is a man of integrity, who will not be bullied by the neo-cons and the zionists. He will stand up for our oppressed palestinian brothers and sisters, whose land is being illegally occupied by that evil zionist entity whose name I just...

(Updated 8:30 a.m.) A body believed to be that of Indonesian terrorist leader Dulmatin, wanted for the October 2002 Bali bombings, was recovered Monday afternoon by a joint military team in Tawi-Tawi province. Intelligence reports said the body was found 1:30 p.m. at the vicinity of Sitio Salisit in Balimbing village, Panglima Sugala town in Tawi-Tawi. "(The) said corpse was jointly identified by informants with notable wounds in the head, chest and right foot to include clothing in physical characteristics matched with previous revelations," the report said. The body was exhumed for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing for confirmation. Reached for...

Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. on Thursday confirmed reports that a Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) operative wanted for the 2002 deadly bombing in Bali, Indonesia was injured in an encounter with Army troops last August 9 in Sulu province. Esperon said the military has received reliable information confirming that Indonesian terror suspect Dulmatin sustained injuries after fighting alongside Abu Sayyaf members against government troops in Maimbung town. Aside from Dulmatin, the military also believes that Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Doc Abu was wounded while his son was killed in the encounter. Dulmatin is a 32-year-old Indonesian electronics expert suspected...

SAN JOSE, Aug. 3, 2007 (KGO) - We're learning more about the terrorist accusations against a San Jose man. Police say he has ties to al Qaeda and that his brother is one of the FBI's most wanted terrorists. Rahmat Abdhir has lived on Sunwood Drive in San Jose since 2003. The FBI raided his house yesterday. Rahmat's younger brother is Zulkifli Abdhir, a fugitive terrorist living in the Philippines with an alleged leadership role in the al Qaeda affiliated terror group called Jemaah Islamiyah. A 16-count indictment accuses the two men of working together to further terrorist acts. Rahmat's...

Two brothers were indicted Thursday on terrorism-related charges after one allegedly provided money, guns and two-way radios to the other who was battling troops in the Philippines as a member of a terrorist group. FBI agents arrested Rahmat Abdhir, 43, of San Jose, outside his office in Sunnyvale on Thursday morning, federal authorities said. His brother, Zulkifli Abdhir, 41, remains at large in the Philippines, and is wanted on a $5 million reward. Both were charged in a 16-count indictment including conspiracy to support terrorists. Rahmat Abdhir also was charged with making false statements and contributing goods and services to...

Two men, including a San Jose resident, have been indicted on charges they provided support to terrorists in the Philippines, the Department of Justice announced this afternoon. Zulkifli Abdhir - aka "Zulkifli Bin Abdul Hir," aka "Hulagu," aka "Marwan" - was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and providing material support to terrorists. He is a fugitive and is believed to be in the Philippines, according to the DOJ. Abdhir's brother, San Jose resident Rahmat Abdhir, was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, providing material to terrorists, contributing goods and services to a Specially...

Growing Links Seen Among Southeast Asian Islamists; Southern Thailand Affected Graham Lees | Bio | 27 Jun 2007 World Politics Review Exclusive SINGAPORE -- Evidence is growing that threads of homespun Islamicextremism in seven countries of Southeast Asia are weaving links amongeach other. Malay Muslim insurgentsfighting an increasingly violent conflict in southern Thailand, forexample, now appear to be receiving assistance from Islamists elsewherein Southeast Asia. The thread appears to loosely wind through Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Cambodia and even tightly controlled Burma. Mention of terrorism in this region and the international community automatically thinks of the Bali bombings,...

Jakarta, 13 June (AKI) - The confirmation of the arrest in Indonesia of Abu Dujana, the military leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist group, could help the authorities understand the link between JI and Noordin Mohammed Top, the Malaysian national considered the mastermind behind a series of bomb attacks in Indonesia, said Sidney Jones, the Southeast Asia director of the International Crisis Group in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI). "If he talked, it could help a lot in gaining insights into how JI operates and what the link with Noordin is," Jones told AKI. "But, in any case,...

Jakarta, 11 June (AKI) - If it is confirmed, the arrest of one of Indonesia's most wanted terrorists and alleged leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror group, Abu Dujana, is only symbolic and will not really change the current objectives of the group, said Ken Conboy, a regional terrorism expert in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI). "In the last few years, JI has switched its focus and it is now much more interested in recruiting and rebuilding, rather than bombing," said Conboy who is also the author of "The Second Front: Inside Asia’s Most Dangerous Terrorist Network", a book...

Authorities have arrested a close aide to Indonesia's most wanted terrorist, shooting the suspect in the leg as he tried to escape a raid on his hide-out, police said. "Yusron Ahmahmud was wounded but is in good condition," national police spokesman Sisno Adiwinoto told The Associated Press. "He is being questioned by police." "I can confirm he is a close aide to Abu Dujana," he said, referring to the alleged leader of the al-Qaeda-linked militant group Jemaah Islamiyah. The arrest occurred at a rented house in Kebarongan, a village in Central Java province, Adiwinoto said, adding that he hoped Ahmahmud...

(UPDATE 4) ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines -- Soldiers have taken into custody the four children of Indonesian bomb suspect Dulmatin during a raid in Simunul Island off Tawi-Tawi on Thursday evening, authorities said. Commodore Emilio Marayag, commander of Naval Forces South, said the children, aged 2,5,7 and 9, were found inside a house in Bacung village that was raided by a composite team of troops from the Second Marine Battalion, the Military Intelligence Group (MIG) 9, and the police Special Action Force (SAF). Marayag said the caretakers of the house, Nursitti and Kilsitta, were also taken into custody after the...

Muslim militants behind a series of bombings in Indonesia in recent years are damaging the cause of radical Islam in the country, an alleged leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah militant group said, highlighting a split in extremist ranks. In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Abu Rusdan also said that small terror groups working independently and influenced by Internet teachings were likely to launch more attacks against Western targets in the world's most populous Muslim nation. "Muslims who have experience in jihad and received an education in it feel obliged to practice it where ever they are," Rusdan said...

Extremist preachers, revenge for killings of relatives push Indonesian militants to terror --------------------------------------- (AP) Basri sports a crude tattoo of Mickey Mouse on his wrist and spent his youth drinking alcohol and jamming to Nirvana songs in a rock band. He was never religious, and even now struggles to remember verses from the Quran, Islam's holy book. Yet until his arrest this month, the 30-year-old was one of Indonesia's most wanted Islamic militants. He was accused in the beheadings of three Christian girls and a string of other attacks on Sulawesi island, a key terror front in the world's most...

Indonesia's Supreme Court has overturned militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir's conviction on conspiracy charges in the 2002 Bali bombings. The verdict clears his name since he has already served his two-and-a-half year sentence. "The court today decided to uphold Bashir's judicial review," chief judge German Hoediarto said on Thursday.

A senior US official on Friday raised the prospect of increasing US military deployments in Mindanao to confront Moro extremists who Washington says threaten regional stability. US Special Forces troops are known to deployed on a rotational basis in the Muslim southwestern portion of the former US colony. Although the 1987 Constitution bars them from actual combat, they have been providing intelligence, equipment, and training to elite troops combating extremist groups such as the Abu Sayyaf and their Jemaah Islamiyah allies from neighboring Indonesia. "We have a very good pace and rhythm of exercises. I think there may be...

In December 2001, as the investigation into the U.S. anthrax attacks was gathering steam, coalition soldiers in Afghanistan uncovered what appeared to be an important clue: a trail of documents chronicling an attempt by al-Qaeda to create its own anthrax weapon. The documents told of a singular mission by a scientist named Abdur Rauf, an obscure, middle-aged Pakistani with alleged al-Qaeda sympathies and an advanced degree in microbiology. Using his membership in a prestigious scientific organization to gain access, Rauf traveled through Europe on a quest, officials say, to obtain both anthrax spores and the equipment needed to turn them...

Excerpt from report in English by Roel Pareno carried by Philippine newspaper The Philippine Star website on 7 October The wife of a top Indonesian terrorist claimed that the Philippines is a "prime target" for attacks by the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist group because the country was one of the first to support the US-led war against terror after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US, military officials said yesterday. The revelation by Istiada Oemar Sovie, alias Amenah Toha, the wife of suspected Jemaah Islamiyah Dulmatin, who uses only one name, came during her tactical interrogation. Sovie was captured...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday named the Philippine and Indonesian branches of the International Islamic Relief Organization as fund-raisers for al Qaeda and other terror groups. It also designated one of the Saudi-based organization's high-ranking officials, Abd Al Hamid Sulaiman Al-Mujil, as a fund-raiser for al Qaeda. The action means that no American can have any dealings with the two branches of the organization or with Al-Mujil and that any assets they have in the United States will be frozen. "Al-Mujil has a long record of supporting Islamic militant groups, and he has maintained a cell...

JAKARTA, Indonesia, July 2 — The bombs should be small and placed in day packs, making them harder to detect. The bombers should dress like tourists. They should not bother targeting hotels because security is too tight. Instead they should consider restaurants, discos and theaters. A police officer searched the site of one of the bombings in Bali on Oct. 2, 2005. The blasts killed 20 people. A thorough survey should be done in advance by the bombers themselves. That way, they are more familiar with the sites, and no one is left behind to be hunted later by the...

The government will unveil today a new security arrangement with the United States that will allow US military involvement in addressing "non-traditional threats" including terrorism, piracy, disease outbreaks and natural disasters. Philippine security officials emphasized that the new arrangement is not a treaty but an "institutional framework" that will cover issues not specifically cited in the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) and the Visiting Forces Agreement between the two countries. The Philippine government proposed the crafting of the framework about a year ago. Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, a lawyer, noted that the MDT commits both countries to come to each other’s...

Jakarta, 17 Nov. (AKI) - Britain, Italy, Australia and America have been warned "you will be the target of our next attack", in a video found in Indonesia featuring a masked man believed to be a key leader from the group accused of organising the Bali bombings. The video, which Indonesia's top police chief said appeared, from the man's accent, to show Noordin Mohamad Top from the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah group, was found, along with several other tapes, during a raid on a recently-abandoned hideout in the central Java province. "As long as you keep your troops in Iraq and...

The recorder of the perpetrators's Video of the Bali Bombing began to be presented The recorder of the video that contained the statement of three perpetrators of the bali bombing on October 1 began to be shown. Vice President Jusuf Kalla together with 12 Muslim scholars from East Java witnessed this video, on Wednesday night (16/11), in Vice President's service residence. In this video of the perpetrators was that made use of Arabic, the Javanese language and Indonesian. Basically they gave the reason why did the suicide bomb, the centipede to the family but also said that they will...

Suspected Palestinian terror trainer arrested in ZamboMANILA -- Authorities have arrested a Palestinian man who allegedly trained al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf guerrillas in the past and returned to the Philippines for a possible terror mission, government officials said Thursday. Fawas Ajjur, whom security officials suspect may be an al-Qaida operative, was arrested Saturday in Zamboanga City as he arrived after a baffling, circuitous journey that took him to Russia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, the officials said. Ajjur did not have a visa and was taken into custody by immigration agents at the Zamboanga airport, Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr. said....

On October 11, 2005, the website of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence posted a letter believed to be from al-Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri to Iraqi insurgent leader and commander of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Dated July 9, 2005, this letter provided not only a window into al-Qaeda’s strategic outlook, but also showed the significance it places on the outcome of the war in Iraq and obtaining popular support within the larger context of global jihad [1]. Assuming the letter is genuine, a re-examination of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) as a node within this wider movement is necessary. The...

Asia's most wanted turn more extremist: expert BALI BOMBINGS: Sidney Jones said there are indications that ad hoc networks of Jemaah Islamiyah followers may be morphing into a more structured `combat unit' AFP , KUTA, INDONESIA Tuesday, Oct 04, 2005,Page 5 Advertising Two fugitive Malaysians wanted for deadly bombings in Indonesia appear to be splitting from the extremist Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) group to form an even more hardline force, an expert said yesterday. Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohammad Top are two of Asia's most wanted men and linked to JI, the group blamed for the Bali bombings which killed 202...

BALI, Indonesia (AP) - Terrorists targeted the Indonesian tropical resort of Bali for the second time in three years Saturday with coordinated bombings that devastated seafood and noodle restaurants packed with foreigners, killing at least 25 people and wounding at least 100. The blasts came a month after Indonesia's president warned of possible terrorist attacks. Two Americans were among the wounded. Saturday's near-simultaneous blasts at two seafood cafes on Jimbaran beach and a three-story noodle and steakhouse in downtown Kuta occurred almost three years to the day that bombings blamed on Islamic militants killed 202 people, mostly foreigners in Bali....

BALI, Indonesia - Up to four explosions rocked popular tourist areas on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Saturday, killing at least three people and wounding dozens more, local media and witnesses said. At least three people died in one of the blasts in the Kuta beach area, police on the scene said. One witness told El Shinta radio that there were at least 30 casualties at another blast in the Jimbaran Beach area, although he did not say if any victims were dead. One hospital said at least 40 injured people had been brought in. The blasts --...

Bali, Indonesia (AHN) - Reports surface that a series of terror related explosions have struck the resort area of Bali late Saturday night. Reports indicate multiple injuries have occurred but no reports of fatalities. Local television and radio stations reports there were as many as four near-simultaneous explosions near tourist areas on Bali. El Shinta radio reports that at least three blasts rocked Jimbaran beach, which is lined with seafood restaurants commonly frequented by tourists. Another explosion struck downtown Kuta, about 28 km away, the station says. In 2003, terrorists from the Jemaah Islamiyah militant group attacked the J.W. Marriott...

Saturday, September 11, 2004 9/11 and the Lies Terrorists Tell Three years ago today Islamist al-Qaida terrorists hijacked four airliners bound for New York and Washington, crashing them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A second target in Washington was spared when heroic passengers on a doomed flight attacked the terrorists and crashed the plane rather than allowing the attack to proceed. The 9/11 attacks awakened a sleeping giant. The United States mobilized for a new war. The truth is that the war had been going on for many years but few Americans had paid it much notice....

An Indonesian court has sentenced to death the main defendant on trial over last year's suicide car bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta that killed 10 people. Iwan Dharmawan, alias Rois, stood up waving his fist in the air and shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) after the verdict was read out. Prosecutors had accused Rois of buying the vehicle and other materials used in the bombing, and of recruiting the driver who drove the vehicle. They had also said Rois, 30, worked closely with the accused masterminds of the strike, Malaysians Azahari bin Husin and Noordin M...

Anti-U.S. Terror Threat Grows in Philippines April 21, 2005 By Dan Springer MANILA, Philippines — Security experts see growing signs of a link between Al Qaeda (search) and home-grown terrorists in the Philippines, raising fears that attacks against the United States could be launched from a country that used to be a U.S. colony. "The terrorist threat in the Philippines has gone to a high point, especially with the concentration of Al Qaeda morphed into a group called Jemaah Islamiyah (search)," said Gen. Avelino Razon, director of the Philippine National Police. Intelligence reports indicate that longtime separatist groups that have...

<p>An Indianapolis family kept vigil Tuesday awaiting news of two brothers they say are wrongly being held in the Philippines for suspected ties to terrorists.</p> <p>"This is like a (bad) dream," said Pamela Stubbs Thornton, a sister of the detained men, Michael Ray Stubbs and Jamil Daud Mujahid.</p>

<p>A former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory employee and his brother face deportation from the Philippines after their arrest in that country for suspected links to Muslim rebels and charities tied to al Qaeda, authorities said Tuesday.</p> <p>Michael Ray Stubbs, 55, of Antioch, who worked at the nuclear-weapons laboratory for 10 years ending in 2000, and his brother, James Stubbs, 56, a convert to Islam, were taken into custody on immigration violation charges Dec. 13 in the town of Tanza in Cavite province.</p>

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - A terror suspect on Wednesday said the southern Philippines has become a major training ground for regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah - graduating 23 bomb experts just days ago - and a refuge for Indonesians involved in major attacks, including the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings. Rohmat, arrested last week as an alleged Jemaah Islamiyah operative in the Philippines, told The Associated Press that he had trained new recruits of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group and said its leaders were plotting more bombings and kidnappings. Details provided by the 26-year-old Indonesian martial arts expert showed a close...

HE LOOKED young enough to pass for a teenager. And nothing in his lean frame suggested he was what the military portrayed him to be: a man who trained terror bombers. A faint hint of a smile even crossed Rohmat's face when the Armed Forces yesterday presented the Indonesian -- hands bound in cuffs -- to the media, saying he helped plan with the Abu Sayyaf Group leaders the Valentine's Day bombings in Makati City. Intelligence officials said Rohmat trained the Abu Sayyaf in bomb making, particularly the use of mobile phones to trigger explosions. Like many Indonesians, Rohmat goes...

TERROR WARNING: Govt ‘blind to JI link’ Published on March 07, 2005 Militant group helping unit formed by Afghanistan war vets in South; Bangkok attacks planned, says US expert A world expert on terrorism in Southeast Asia has warned that the government’s poor understanding of terrorists could help spur violence in the country’s deep South. He also warned of moves among the terrorists to bring their bombing campaign directly to Bangkok. Dr Zachary Abuza, associate professor of political science and international relations at Simmons College in Boston, said international terrorist groups, notably Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), based in Indonesia, had...

The United States said yesterday that it was "disappointed" and "disturbed" by the 2-1/2-year prison sentence a five-judge panel in Indonesia handed a Muslim cleric for conspiracy in the 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 persons, including seven Americans. Abu Bakar Bashir, who is thought to be the leader of the al Qaeda-linked group Jemaah Islamiyah, also was cleared of charges that he planned the 2003 suicide attack on the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia. +snip+ Bashir had faced the death penalty over the Marriott bombing, in which 12 persons died. He also was accused of inciting his followers...

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Contacts between Philippine Islamic extremists and their international counterparts are growing, as shown by the increased sophistication of bombs used in recent terror attacks, the president's top spokesman said Wednesday. Intelligence reports have long suggested that the deadly Abu Sayyaf group and other local Islamic extremist groups have links to al-Qaida and the Southeast Asia regional terror network, Jemaah Islamiyah. "There are signs that these contacts are becoming closer, and they are able to exploit situations like the conflict in Sulu at a moment's notice," Silvestre Afable told The Associated Press. He noted that after a...

3rd Makati blast eludes arrest anew By Joel Francis GuintoINQ7.net THE THIRD suspect in the Valentine's Day bombing in Makati City has eluded arrest for a second time, Metro Manila police chief Director Avelino Razon Jr. said Tuesday.Razon said in a phone interview that Gapal Bana, who goes by the aliases Maidan and Boy Negro, encountered authorities who were pursuing him in Libmanan town, Camarines Sur province at around 10 p.m. Sunday.A brief firefight ensued and Bana was hit in the thigh before he escaped to a thickly forested area, Razon said.“He cannot go very far and we are optimistic...