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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...