Abu Bakr Bashir, the leader of al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyya, has made Indonesia the epicenter of fundamentalist Islamic terrorism in Southeast Asia. His loyal disciple Hambali, who was recently arrested, discovered that the organization's next destination is the IPAC conference in Bangkok.
Yossi Melman, Haaretz
Abu Bakr, the leader of "Al-Jama'a Al-Islamiyya", holds the indictment against him, according to which he plotted to kill the President of Indonesia
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Abu Bakr Bashir, the leader of al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyya, has made Indonesia the epicenter of fundamentalist Islamic terrorism in Southeast Asia. His loyal disciple Hambali, who was recently arrested, discovered that the organization's next destination is the IPAC conference in Bangkok. The Prime Minister of Thailand hastened to explain that, in general, this is a plan to damage the embassies of the United States, Australia and Israel
With tears flowing from his eyes, Abu Bakr Bashir tried to explain that he was the victim of a malicious plot by his government. About a week ago, in a dramatic appearance at the court in Jakarta where his trial is underway, the Indonesian cleric stated: "I never had any intention of killing Magwati (President of the country, YM), this is slander against me. The accusations and suspicions are the result of a CIA conspiracy." If convicted, he faces up to fifteen years in prison.
The appearance of the short and bearded Bashir was one of the highlights of the trial, in which the leader of the terrorist organization al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya is accused of plotting to kill President Megawati Sukarnoputri. The indictment accuses him of treason, involvement in terrorist attacks and an attempt to rebel against the secular government and replace it with an Islamic halachic regime. Eyewitnesses and witnesses who were present at the hearing said that for a moment they were tempted to believe that before them was a preacher and a halachic teacher who believed that violence was foreign to him. But according to the Indonesian government, Bashir, 64, is nothing more than the leader of a terrorist group that preaches violence. As evidence, she points to the fact that almost in the same breath in which he claimed his innocence, he explained his political and ideological doctrine, which expresses an extreme worldview.
Shortly after the end of the hearing in court, in an interview with the private radio station "Al Shinta", Bashir claimed: "The CIA is behind Hambli's arrest... The order was given by the President of the United States, George Bush, who ordered the capture of a so-called terrorist in order to to compensate himself and console himself for the failure of his efforts to capture Osama bin Laden".
The mention of Hambali and bin Laden in the same breath was not accidental. The pace of events on the terrorist front in Southeast Asia in the last ten months is dizzying. the development
The last one was the arrest in Thailand of Hambali, or Radwan Issam al-Din in his full name. The events began on October 12, 2002. On that day, a car bomb exploded near a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia, killing more than 200 people, most of them Western tourists. About a month ago, another car exploded at the Marriott Hotel, in the heart of Jakarta's business district. 12 people were killed in the attack.
These two attacks, as well as previous attacks, are attributed to the Al-Jama'a Al-Islamiyya organization. The security services of Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines - countries that have been the target of attacks by the organization - claim that it is headed by Bashir and his loyal disciple Hambali. Alongside Bashir's trial, five extremist Muslims are on trial, accused of murder, conspiracy and membership in a terrorist organization. The two sentences indicate that in recent years Indonesia has become one of the centers of fundamentalist Muslim terrorism, which also threatens the stability of its neighbors in Southeast Asia. These days the biggest concern is for the fate of the IPAC conference (the Asian and Pacific Economic Community). The conference is supposed to convene in Bangkok in October, with the participation of the US president and heads of 18 countries.
Shortly after Hambli's arrest, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said that the detainee had planned to harm the conference. Then he retracted and explained that Hambali and his men plotted to attack the embassies of the United States, Australia and Israel in Thailand.
On the knees of militant Islam
Abu Bakr Bashir was born in Indonesia in 1939 during the Dutch occupation, to a poor family that could not keep him in the Muslim school he was sent to. He was thrown out into the street and educated himself in the ways of the Islamic Halacha. Already in his twenties he became known as a talented preacher. He based his teachings on the militant Islamic tradition of the Wahhabists from the Arabian Peninsula, according to which Bin Laden was also educated.
The flourishing of fundamentalism in Indonesia must be understood against the background of the rule of General Kamozu Suharto. In 1965, with the assistance of the CIA, the general overthrew President Ahmed Sukarno, the father of President Megawati and one of the leaders of the struggle for independence, in a military coup that resulted in the death of thousands of Communist Party members. During his reign, Suharto banned Muslim activity and persecuted the believers.
Bashir, like other religious priests, went underground. He operated pirate radio stations calling for jihad against the general's infidel regime and his pro-American policies. In 1971 he founded a beit midrash (school) for students in the city of Solo and in 1978 he was imprisoned for four years on the charge of trying to establish a Muslim militia. When they were about to imprison him again, he fled to Malaysia with his accomplice, Abdullah Songkar. The two founded Al-Jama'a Al-Islamiyya, an organization that aspires to establish a Muslim halachic state that will be based on Sharia law and will encompass the southern Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, the principalities of Brunei and Indonesia.
In Malaysia, Bashir continued his religious preaching and established a madrasa for young people who came from Indonesia and Malaysia. One of them was Hambali. Hambali, who was born in 1965, is also a member of a poor family from the island of Java. When he was 18 years old, he emigrated from Indonesia and joined the Beit Midrash of Bashir. Bashir is the spiritual leader, Hambali is his operations officer. His school, like that of quite a few fundamentalist terrorists, was Afghanistan. In 1988, Hambali went to Afghanistan and joined the Mujahideen in the war against the Soviet occupation. In 1990 he returned to Malaysia, later married a local woman and returned to shelter in Bashir's shadow. The two returned to Indonesia in the late nineties, after the collapse of Suharto's regime.
"The removal from power of General Suharto, after 32 years of a repressive dictatorship," Andreas Harsano, editor of the "Penthau" monthly for press and media affairs, which is published in Jakarta, told "Haaretz" "pushed the country into a complicated democratic process. The rule of law was particularly affected by the rapid and far-reaching changes that moved Indonesia from a regime of total oppression to relative freedom. The new freedom gave many of the religious organizations and their leaders, who for many years lived underground and under heavy oppression, a feeling of elation. They believed that from now on the sky is the limit and that they are allowed to preach any deed and action, even the most delusional, even the most dangerous."
On the eve of the millennium, bombs exploded near churches in nine cities across Indonesia. 19 people were killed. At a later date, bombs exploded in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, killing 22 people. The actions are attributed to the teacher and his student. One of the charges against Bashir attributes to him involvement in attacks against the churches. The security service of the Philippines suspects that Hambali organized the attacks in Manila and is now asking to participate in his investigation, which is currently being conducted by CIA and Indonesian investigators, probably in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
A danger to democracy
In the years 2002-2000, signs indicating accelerated activity of the terrorist group were added to the attacks. In January 2002, Petor Rahman al-Ghozi, "Mike the Explosive", another student of Bashir's who specializes in assembling bombs, was arrested in Manila, with a ton of TN-type explosives in his possession. Agus Duikarana, another Muslim fanatic who worked closely with Bashir, was arrested in the Philippines in possession of two powerful bombs. In Indonesia, at the end of 2001, the authorities arrested Tawfik Abdul Halim, a Malaysian citizen and a close friend of Hambali, who planned to blow up a bus carrying Christian passengers in Jakarta. But Megawati's administration refused to see the writing on the wall.
"We have a culture of self-repression", explained Harsano, "In Indonesia there is a widespread tendency to believe in conspiracy theories of all kinds, such as the one that claims that it was not the Muslims who carried out the September 11 attacks, but the Jews. This self-denial is shared by many. Even the vice president, Maze Haz, who heads the third largest Muslim party, dared to say in May 2002 - half a year before the attack in Bali - that there are no terrorists in Indonesia. He added, 'If they exist, don't arrest religious leaders and preachers - arrest me.'"
But reality hit hard. After the attack in Bali, the government had to act decisively, both because it realized the magnitude of the danger posed to the stability of the democratic regime in the country and because of heavy pressure from the American administration and the governments in the region. Dozens of al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya activists, including Bashir, were arrested and prosecuted. Among the detainees are also five who are considered to be directly involved in the attack in Bali. Three of them are brothers: Amrozai, Molhalas and Ali Imron. The other two are Imam Samadura and Idris.
From their trial it became clear that some of them have a personal history similar to that of Hambali: training in Afghanistan and personal acquaintance with bin Laden. The court sentenced Amrozai to death. Samdora is also expected to receive a similar punishment. All the accused refused to apologize for their actions. Samadura thanked the prosecutors for seeking to sentence him to the death penalty and thereby allowing him to be reunited with his creator. Regarding the Western tourists who were killed in the attack, he said: "Christians are not my brothers."
Only Ali Imron expressed regret for his actions. Last week he said in his testimony that the attack in Bali was planned for September 11, 2002 to mark the anniversary of Bin Laden's attacks in the USA. The operation was postponed for a month only because the bomb was not assembled on time. "Why do I, Ustaz (religious teacher, YM), do such things? How could I just obey the instructions and not think?” was tormented by his testimony.
Bashir, on the other hand, denies even the very existence of Al-Jama'a Al-Islamiyya. He defines the United States and Israel as "the real terrorists" and called bin Laden a "good Muslim". Even if Bashir does not break down, repent or moderate his statements, the security services in the region believe that the arrest of Hambali, who is known as the "Bin Laden of Southeast Asia" - he was the only non-Arab who participated in the deliberations of Al-Qaeda's Supreme Military Council - is a blow. Added to the operational capacity of the terrorist networks of the Muslim fanatics in the world, although not their defeat.
Following September 11 - a special knowledge
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