Southeast Asia: Region's terrorists in secret alliance

There is no surprise here except for those who are unaware, or unwilling to accept, that these groups have identical ideologies, motives, and goals. From The Australian, with thanks to Kevin:

THE three main Southeast Asian Islamic terrorist groups have had a strong, secret alliance for almost 20 years, which continues to train Jemaah Islamiah's bomb-makers, intelligence documents reveal.

The documents, compiled from interviews with a senior JI defector and other sources, confirm long-held suspicions that two training camps of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the southern Philippines are the nerve centre of regional terrorism.

The former JI leader's admissions defy claims by the Philippines Government and the MILF that militant training in the camps ceased four years ago, at the start of delicate negotiations about autonomy for the Muslim minority in the country's south.

But the JI man Mohammed Nassir bin Abbas, formerly a leader of the main camp, has told foreign agents that links have instead strengthened, in particular with the infamous group Abu Sayyaf, renowned for beheading Westerners.

Nassir's first-hand account is seen as a missing link in decades of suspicion about the potential threat posed by the camps and their infiltration by terrorists.

A similar story comes from Kashmir. From ANI:

All Kashmiri militant organizations have reportedly decided to form one front to secure the right of self-determination for Kashmiris in Pakistan and India.

According to the Daily Times, the Muttahida Jihad Council (MJC) took this decision on Sunday.

"The decision was made at a meeting at an undisclosed location in Azad Jammu and Kashmir," sources told the paper.

Posted by Robert at September 21, 2004 5:26 AM
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