US captures JI head Hambali
WASHINGTON -- The United States on Thursday announced the capture
of a top Asian ally of Osama bin Laden, Hambali, the accused
mastermind of last year's Bali bombing and a series of other deadly
attacks.
Hambali is reportedly being held in a secret location for
questioning by FBI officers and Thai authorities. -- AP
The 36-year-old Islamic scholar, also linked to a blast at the J.W.
Marriott hotel in Jakarta last week, was captured in South-east
Asia this week, the US administration said.
A senior official told reporters that other countries helped with
the detention of Hambali, an Indonesian, but would not name the
states involved or give other details of the capture.
The Nation newspaper in Bangkok, however, quoted unidentified
sources as saying he was picked up in Ayutthaya, an ancient temple
city in central Thailand this week.
It also claimed he was plotting to strike again in October when
leaders from the 21-nation Asia Pacific Cooperation, including US
President George W. Bush, meet in Thailand.
Speaking in San Diego, Mr Bush hailed the capture, saying Hambali
was 'one of the world's most lethal terrorists.
'He's a known killer who was a close associate of Sept 11
mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.'
Aussie PM hails capture
Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Friday hailed the capture
of Indonesian terror suspect Hambali, calling him 'the ultimate
mastermind' behind the October 2002 Bali bombing that killed 88
Australians.
'There should be universal relief and pleasure that a man as evil
as Hambali has been caught,' he told reporters at a Pacific Islands
Forum in Auckland hours after the Indonesian's capture was
announced by US officials.
'We have caught the ultimate mastermind and that is very good
news.
'So to those relatives and friends of the 88 Australians who died
in that outrage almost a year ago, I hope this is some further
measure of justice,' he said.
US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who is visiting
Australia, said Hambali's arrest would 'constipate the flow of
money' to terror groups in south-east Asia.
He also said the arrest would undoubtedly shed light on terrorist
planning and activities in Asia, providing the opportunity to
capture more of his comrades. -- AFP
Hambali, also known as Riduan Issamudin, is the chief of the
radical Jemaah Islamiah group, a regional terrorist network in
South-east Asia that is affiliated with the Al-Qaeda.
He is wanted in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines
in connection with a series of bombing plans and attacks.
The US official said Hambali was being interrogated in US custody
at a secret location, and that Mr Bush was informed of the capture
on Wednesday, while on vacation at his Crawford, Texas ranch.
In Jakarta, the Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty
Natalegawa said the ministry had not been informed of the capture.
'The foreign ministry has not received this information. I can not
confirm this report,' he told AFP.
Hambali has long been spoken of as a top terrorist suspect.
According to the US official, he helped to arrange a meeting in
Malaysia in January 2000 that included two men who went on to
become hijackers in the strikes on New York and Washington in Sept
11, 2001.
He also reportedly received a 'large sum of money for a major
attack' earlier this year.
The money was handed over by an Al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan.
The official would not say whether that attack was thwarted or
still in the planning stages, but said Hambali would be
interrogated as 'part of ongoing efforts to neutralise the
threat'.
The bombing on the Indonesian resort island of Bali last October
killed 202 people, mainly young western tourists. The Aug 5 blast
at the Jakarta hotel killed 12.
Hambali was among eight people indicted in the Philippines for the
bombing of the Manila overhead railway that killed 22 people in
2000.
He is also said to have played a key role in directing bombings and
attacks on priests and churches in Indonesia that killed 19 people
in 2000. -- AFP, AP