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CNN Sunday Morning

History of Terrorism in Indonesia

Aired October 13, 2002 - 07:10   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go back now to the top story that is developing out of Indonesia, the situation in Bali, the bombings that have happened there. For more background on possible terrorist links, even though there has been no official confirmation yet or claims of responsibility, we want to go to CNN's Jakarta bureau chief Maria Ressa. She joins us now from Manila -- Maria.
MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Renay, I think it's important to point out that the U.S. embassy in Jakarta has been on a heightened alert threat level since September 11, basically, after the U.S. government received information from an al Qaeda operative, who was arrested in Indonesia on June 5. That information led the U.S. to raise the terror alert warning to orange. That led to the closings of several U.S. embassies in Southeast Asia.

In addition to that, it's also important to put it in context about the number of explosions that we've had in the region in the past three weeks. Carol was mentioning seven explosions -- seven explosions in the region in the past three weeks. This is not an isolated incident.

Two explosions in the southern Philippines; one on October 2, another on October 10, killed an American serviceman and 11 Filipinos. Another interesting explosion that happened in Jakarta -- a grenade attack outside a U.S. embassy homes has been linked by investigators to a radical Islamic cleric, Abuba Kar-Bashir (ph). This man has been called the Asian Osama bin Laden. He is wanted for arrest by Singapore and Malaysia, and he is basically the head, according to these countries, of al Qaeda's network here in Southeast Asia.

The group he heads, Jemaah Islamiah, has been pinpointed as the group that has targeted the U.S. and Western interests in Singapore, in Indonesia, in the Philippines. In addition to that, that group has also been blamed for a series of explosions in December 2000 in the Philippines and Indonesia. And what's interesting is that the series of events that we've seen parallels those explosions in 2000, of what we've seen as the series of explosions in the southern Philippines, followed by an explosion Saturday outside the Philippine consulate in Manado (ph), Indonesia. That was followed a few hours later by the near-simultaneous blasts in Bali -- Renay.

SAN MIGUEL: Maria, I was wondering, you talk about these -- some of these bombings going on since December of 2000 in Indonesia and in the Philippines. What kind of success have law enforcement authorities had in the region in trying to get closer or shut down this group that you called Jemaah Islamiah, and how does the U.S. -- do the U.S. officials in the region feel about that success or lack of success?

RESSA: Well, this actually leads to the concerns about security threats for American interests and American citizens. Part of the problem has been that different countries in the region have moved with different speeds in trying to cut that network. For example, in the Philippines, several people were arrested here. Singapore was the first nation that actually arrested Jemaah Islamiah terrorists. That was in December of 2001. Malaysia has arrested several of those.

There has been criticism from its neighbors in the region and the U.S. that Indonesia has not done enough, particularly since both Singapore and Malaysia have pinpointed the leader of Jemaah Islamiah, the man named Abuba Kar-Bashir (ph), have pinpointed him and that he is allowed to still live freely in Indonesia, that he is connected to high-level politicians, and that he is also actively campaigning for an Islamic state there.

There has been friction over the past few weeks. In particular, the U.S. government has been trying to work behind the scenes to get Indonesia to actually move against Abuba Kar-Bashir (ph). The reason publicly that is being given by Indonesia has been that they cannot arrest him unless they have concrete evidence. Their fear of a domestic backlash in the country with the world's largest Islamic population.

What we're seeing here is the war on terror in Indonesia is actually a war between a radical minority, led by Abuba Kar-Bashir (ph) and others like him, and a very silent moderate majority. Given the growing anti-U.S. sentiment that has been stated by Abuba Kar- Bashir (ph), it has made it a very tenuous balancing act for the United States government in trying to push behind the scenes for the Indonesian government to move to arrest him and other radical Islamists like him, and yet at the same time, to make it seem to the domestic audience of Indonesia that Indonesia is actually not just doing what the U.S. wants.

SAN MIGUEL: I know. That is a delicate balancing act for a lot of these countries that are the moderate countries that are trying to assist the U.S. in the war on terrorism. Some very good background there, Maria Ressa, Jakarta's bureau chief, thank you so much for joining us.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired October 13, 2002 - 07:10   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go back now to the top story that is developing out of Indonesia, the situation in Bali, the bombings that have happened there. For more background on possible terrorist links, even though there has been no official confirmation yet or claims of responsibility, we want to go to CNN's Jakarta bureau chief Maria Ressa. She joins us now from Manila -- Maria.
MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Renay, I think it's important to point out that the U.S. embassy in Jakarta has been on a heightened alert threat level since September 11, basically, after the U.S. government received information from an al Qaeda operative, who was arrested in Indonesia on June 5. That information led the U.S. to raise the terror alert warning to orange. That led to the closings of several U.S. embassies in Southeast Asia.

In addition to that, it's also important to put it in context about the number of explosions that we've had in the region in the past three weeks. Carol was mentioning seven explosions -- seven explosions in the region in the past three weeks. This is not an isolated incident.

Two explosions in the southern Philippines; one on October 2, another on October 10, killed an American serviceman and 11 Filipinos. Another interesting explosion that happened in Jakarta -- a grenade attack outside a U.S. embassy homes has been linked by investigators to a radical Islamic cleric, Abuba Kar-Bashir (ph). This man has been called the Asian Osama bin Laden. He is wanted for arrest by Singapore and Malaysia, and he is basically the head, according to these countries, of al Qaeda's network here in Southeast Asia.

The group he heads, Jemaah Islamiah, has been pinpointed as the group that has targeted the U.S. and Western interests in Singapore, in Indonesia, in the Philippines. In addition to that, that group has also been blamed for a series of explosions in December 2000 in the Philippines and Indonesia. And what's interesting is that the series of events that we've seen parallels those explosions in 2000, of what we've seen as the series of explosions in the southern Philippines, followed by an explosion Saturday outside the Philippine consulate in Manado (ph), Indonesia. That was followed a few hours later by the near-simultaneous blasts in Bali -- Renay.

SAN MIGUEL: Maria, I was wondering, you talk about these -- some of these bombings going on since December of 2000 in Indonesia and in the Philippines. What kind of success have law enforcement authorities had in the region in trying to get closer or shut down this group that you called Jemaah Islamiah, and how does the U.S. -- do the U.S. officials in the region feel about that success or lack of success?

RESSA: Well, this actually leads to the concerns about security threats for American interests and American citizens. Part of the problem has been that different countries in the region have moved with different speeds in trying to cut that network. For example, in the Philippines, several people were arrested here. Singapore was the first nation that actually arrested Jemaah Islamiah terrorists. That was in December of 2001. Malaysia has arrested several of those.

There has been criticism from its neighbors in the region and the U.S. that Indonesia has not done enough, particularly since both Singapore and Malaysia have pinpointed the leader of Jemaah Islamiah, the man named Abuba Kar-Bashir (ph), have pinpointed him and that he is allowed to still live freely in Indonesia, that he is connected to high-level politicians, and that he is also actively campaigning for an Islamic state there.

There has been friction over the past few weeks. In particular, the U.S. government has been trying to work behind the scenes to get Indonesia to actually move against Abuba Kar-Bashir (ph). The reason publicly that is being given by Indonesia has been that they cannot arrest him unless they have concrete evidence. Their fear of a domestic backlash in the country with the world's largest Islamic population.

What we're seeing here is the war on terror in Indonesia is actually a war between a radical minority, led by Abuba Kar-Bashir (ph) and others like him, and a very silent moderate majority. Given the growing anti-U.S. sentiment that has been stated by Abuba Kar- Bashir (ph), it has made it a very tenuous balancing act for the United States government in trying to push behind the scenes for the Indonesian government to move to arrest him and other radical Islamists like him, and yet at the same time, to make it seem to the domestic audience of Indonesia that Indonesia is actually not just doing what the U.S. wants.

SAN MIGUEL: I know. That is a delicate balancing act for a lot of these countries that are the moderate countries that are trying to assist the U.S. in the war on terrorism. Some very good background there, Maria Ressa, Jakarta's bureau chief, thank you so much for joining us.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com