Tiny Minority of Extremists Update. And “200 would be sent immediately to targets aboard.” From The Australian, with thanks to David:
HUNDREDS of Southeast Asian suicide bombers have been dispatched around the world with a mission to attack Jewish interests in countries that support Israel such as Britain, the US and possibly Australia.
The radical Jakarta-based Asian Muslim Youth Movement gave The Australian details of the plot yesterday, claiming it was being funded in part with cash donations from two unnamed Australian-Indonesian businessmen.
The leader of the AMYM, Islamist author Suaib Bidu, warned that thousands more jihadis were preparing to join the resistance against Israel and die as “martyrs”.
Mr Bidu said a “passing-out” ceremony for more than 3000 jihadis would be held tomorrow in the Indonesian city of Pontianak on the large northern island of Kalimantan.
But only about 200 would be sent immediately to targets aboard, with the remainder being active supporters….
Last night, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said there were fears a “new wave” of terrorists could be generated by the Israeli offensive in Lebanon.
“Muslims are angry even in moderate Muslim countries,” said Mr Abdullah, who hosted an emergency meeting of the 57 nations of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
And in Cairo, the leader of Egypt’s extremist Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Mehdi Akef, said he was ready to send 10,000 fighters to Lebanon to battle Israel alongside Hezbollah.
But he admitted the chances were slim that any volunteers from Egypt would reach Lebanon.
“There are enough people but you would need Arab regimes to authorise their deployment or at least turn a blind eye on their departure,” Mr Akef said….
The group has already sent 217 suicide bombers, including 72 Indonesians as well as citizens of six other Southeast Asian nations, to Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, Mr Bidu said.
They include seasoned mujaheddin fighters, some of whom had fought the Soviets in Afghanistan and then the Northern Alliance in the same country.
Mr Bidu said they were on a mission to infiltrate Israel and its allies “with the help of friendly networks”.
“They will be charged with destroying infrastructure targets of Israel and its supporters, such as Britain and the US,” he said.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qa’ida’s second in charge, has already called for Sunni Muslims across the world to wage jihad against Israel.
The move comes as another group of fighters from a separate body known as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) announced it had 200,000 members ready to join the battlefield in southern Lebanon.
“When we apply for passports we say we are going to Singapore or to Mecca, so that we can fulfil our true aims’” FPI spokesman Habib Hasan al-Jufrie said.
He said the FPI held military training courses “at secret locations” every two weeks. The FPI is thought to be involved in gangster activity and extortion and protection rackets in the Indonesian capital. It attracts most of its support through advocating jihad to the nation’s Muslim majority.
The AMYM and FPI have been blatant in their past condemnation of the US and its Middle Eastern policies. The AMYM has allegedly previously threatened to attack US interests in Jakarta and has sent fighters to the conflicts in Bosnia and Chechnya.
About 40 per cent of the AMYM recruits have military experience in countries including Afghanistan, Thailand, The Philippines, Palestine and Iraq. Those with field experience have learned how to make suicide bombs.
Mr Bidu said the fighters from his movement would not travel to Lebanon “because we don’t want to face Israel from the front; we prefer to do it from behind”.
A spokesman for the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah, Abu Bakar Bashir, said the cleric “fully supports opposing through jihad”.