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Terrorists Backing Religious Fighting in Southeast Asia

Aired June 13, 2003 - 13:15   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.


HEIDI COLLINS, ANCHOR: The State Department is warning Americans not to travel to Indonesia. It says terrorists may be planning attacks against U.S. interests and it urges Americans already in Indonesia's chief (ph) province to leave immediately. Separatist guerillas in the province are battling Indonesian troops.
Southeast Asia is no stranger to terror. Al Qaeda and other groups have found fertile territory in the region.

CNN's Jakarta bureau chief Maria Ressa explores the seeds of terror in the area on "CNN PRESENTS" this Sunday. Here's a preview now of her report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is where officials say al Qaeda has been the most successful. Their plan, to fuel ethnic, racial and religious conflicts to ignite the overthrow of governments in the region. The goal, to create one Islamic state, covering most of southeast Asia and the northern part of Australia.

This is how it began. In 1999, two Muslim bus passengers refused to pay the Christian driver. That ended in a village battle, fermented by local politics.

The battles continued through the next three years, with a largely Muslim army taking sides against the Christian police.

This woman's brother was riding his motorcycle through a Muslim neighborhood when his throat was slit.

When the violence didn't stop, tens of thousands fled, the ports packed as men fought to get passage for their families. Over three years, the death toll climbed to nearly 10,000.

In my trips there, I couldn't understand why, because everyone we spoke with on both sides said they wanted the violence to end. Later, I found out, through the confessions of terrorists linked with al Qaeda, that the conflict was kept alive by an infusion of outsiders, Muslim fighters like themselves.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RESSA: It's unclear exactly what is going on in Ahmbam (ph) right now, because Indonesia has banned foreign journalists from traveling to the city and to the province. But what al Qaeda has been able to do there is exactly what it wants to replicate, not just in other parts of southeast Asia, but around the world. That is, to fuel local communal conflicts by using Islam to trigger a jihad that is so devastating, it creates a power vacuum that allows al Qaeda to come in, overthrow the local government and basically create an Islamic state.

That's the idea. Now, how it gets there and what governments and the United States can do about the strategy are some of the topics we'll pick up in "Seeds of Terror."

Back to you, Heidi.

COLLINS: Obviously very much looking forward to that report, Maria. But I am wondering, this has been going on for three years, you say. And a lot of these forces coming in from outside of Indonesia, anything that can be done to try to contain it to their own country? Is there any talk about that?

RESSA: Actually, what's become apparent now is this isn't something one country can fight on its own, because as in southeast Asia, as each country has been able to deal with it within its borders, if there is a potential weak link that's nearby, say, for example, at one point before Indonesia dealt with it, it was the weak point in southeast Asia. But then after it started to go after the militant groups, they fled to neighboring countries.

Just this week, there were more arrests in Thailand and Cambodia. This is a network that crosses borders very easily and it requires countries around the world to work together to actually squeeze them out and to deal with the ideology that they espouse.

COLLINS: All right. Border control certainly another issue to be talking about here, it seems. Maria Ressa, thank you so much.

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 June 13, 2003 - 13:15   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, ANCHOR: The State Department is warning Americans not to travel to Indonesia. It says terrorists may be planning attacks against U.S. interests and it urges Americans already in Indonesia's chief (ph) province to leave immediately. Separatist guerillas in the province are battling Indonesian troops.
Southeast Asia is no stranger to terror. Al Qaeda and other groups have found fertile territory in the region.

CNN's Jakarta bureau chief Maria Ressa explores the seeds of terror in the area on "CNN PRESENTS" this Sunday. Here's a preview now of her report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is where officials say al Qaeda has been the most successful. Their plan, to fuel ethnic, racial and religious conflicts to ignite the overthrow of governments in the region. The goal, to create one Islamic state, covering most of southeast Asia and the northern part of Australia.

This is how it began. In 1999, two Muslim bus passengers refused to pay the Christian driver. That ended in a village battle, fermented by local politics.

The battles continued through the next three years, with a largely Muslim army taking sides against the Christian police.

This woman's brother was riding his motorcycle through a Muslim neighborhood when his throat was slit.

When the violence didn't stop, tens of thousands fled, the ports packed as men fought to get passage for their families. Over three years, the death toll climbed to nearly 10,000.

In my trips there, I couldn't understand why, because everyone we spoke with on both sides said they wanted the violence to end. Later, I found out, through the confessions of terrorists linked with al Qaeda, that the conflict was kept alive by an infusion of outsiders, Muslim fighters like themselves.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RESSA: It's unclear exactly what is going on in Ahmbam (ph) right now, because Indonesia has banned foreign journalists from traveling to the city and to the province. But what al Qaeda has been able to do there is exactly what it wants to replicate, not just in other parts of southeast Asia, but around the world. That is, to fuel local communal conflicts by using Islam to trigger a jihad that is so devastating, it creates a power vacuum that allows al Qaeda to come in, overthrow the local government and basically create an Islamic state.

That's the idea. Now, how it gets there and what governments and the United States can do about the strategy are some of the topics we'll pick up in "Seeds of Terror."

Back to you, Heidi.

COLLINS: Obviously very much looking forward to that report, Maria. But I am wondering, this has been going on for three years, you say. And a lot of these forces coming in from outside of Indonesia, anything that can be done to try to contain it to their own country? Is there any talk about that?

RESSA: Actually, what's become apparent now is this isn't something one country can fight on its own, because as in southeast Asia, as each country has been able to deal with it within its borders, if there is a potential weak link that's nearby, say, for example, at one point before Indonesia dealt with it, it was the weak point in southeast Asia. But then after it started to go after the militant groups, they fled to neighboring countries.

Just this week, there were more arrests in Thailand and Cambodia. This is a network that crosses borders very easily and it requires countries around the world to work together to actually squeeze them out and to deal with the ideology that they espouse.

COLLINS: All right. Border control certainly another issue to be talking about here, it seems. Maria Ressa, thank you so much.

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