An undated photo of Jemaah Islamiya terrorist Zulkifli Bin Hir and the Jemaah Islamiya from the website of the US Counterterrorism Center. Abu Sayyaf terrorists holding three Red Cross workers in Sulu province display the JI flag in a video grab from the website of the Philippines' largest television network, ABS-CBN.SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 01, 2009) - The Jemaah Islamiya (JI) is believed to be calling the shots in the Sulu hostage crisis, according to Philippine intelligence reports.
And among the JI militants said to be playing a major role in the crisis is Zulkifli bin Hir, an engineer trained in the United States. He is believed to be the head of the Kumpulun Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM) terrorist organization and a member of JI's central command.
According to the US National Counterterrorism Center, since August 2003, Zulkifli has been present in the Philippines, where he is believed to have conducted bomb making training for the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group in Sulu province.
The Abu Sayyaf group is holding hostage three Red Cross workers - Swiss national Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipino woman Mary Jean Lacaba since January 15 after being kidnapped in Patikul town where they inspected a humanitarian project.
Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan, head of the government task force working for the safe release of the aid workers, said that his deputy, Nuranna Sahidullah, reported that she saw an Indian-looking man when she went to see the hostages in the hinterlands of Indanan town several weeks ago. Sahidullah acted as the government's emissary to the Abu Sayyaf.
Filipino Interior Secy. Ronaldo Puno, quoting intelligence reports, claimed that a Singaporean JI militant was among the group holding the three hostages. Puno did not identify the foreigner, but it was believed to be Muawiyah, an Indian-Singaporean Muslim who also uses the alias Manobo.
The local military also reported that Zulkifli and probably Dulmatin and Umar Patek are being coddled by the Abu Sayyaf under Yasir Igasan who is believed to be the same Abu Alih, one of the captors of the Red Cross workers.
The Philippines' largest television network, ABS-CBN, broadcast a video of the hostages and their captors who displayed the flag of the JI. It said the video was taken March 27. The same flag is also in the JI profile on the website of the US National Counterterrorism Center.
The Rewards for Justice Program of the US Department of State is offering up to $5 million for information leading directly to the apprehension and / or conviction of Zulkifli.
The JI is an Indonesia-based Islamic extremist group with cells operating throughout Southeast Asia. The group’s stated goal is to create an Islamic state—or caliphate—that would encompass Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, the southern Philippines, and southern Thailand, US authorities said.
It added that the JI has been responsible for several major, lethal bombings against Western targets in Indonesia, including the attack on a nightclub in Bali in 2002 in which 202 people were killed; the car bombing of the Jakarta Marriott hotel in 2003; the truck bombing of the Australian Embassy in 2004; and the October 2005 bombings of tourist sites in Bali that killed 23 and injured over 100.
JI spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir was released from prison in June 2006. However, authorities detained operations chief Hambali in August 2003, killed chief bombmaker Azahari in November 2005, and, in June 2007, arrested acting JI Emir Zarkasih and the group’s military commander Abu Dujanah. Police continue to hunt other senior JI leaders and operatives—including Noordin Mohammed Top—who are at large in Indonesia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, the US National Counterterrorism Center said.
It said that in 2008, two JI operatives, Agus Purwantoro and Abu Husna, were captured in Malaysia and transferred to Indonesian police custody. In April 2008, an Indonesian court sentenced two of JI’s senior leaders, Abu Dujana and Zarkasih, to 15 years in prison and labeled JI a terrorist group. In July, Indonesian police seized explosives and arrested 10 members of a JI cell in south Sumatra, including one Singaporan JI member, disrupting operational plans to attack specific Christian and Western targets. (Mindanao Examiner)
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