Someone did a lexis-nexis search and apparently came up with these articles about Bin Laden..
Hope it's helpful.
The Straits Times (Singapore)
August 20, 2001, Monday
SECTION: Prime News, Pg. 4
LENGTH: 544 words
HEADLINE: Region "new theatre of Muslim terrorist ops'
BYLINE: Li Xueying
BODY:
SOUTH-EAST Asia has become the new theatre for terrorist operations by Muslim extremist groups -- and experts warn this makes Singapore a possible target.
The number of supporters of Saudi billionaire-fugitive Osama bin Laden and his global terrorist network Al-Qaeda is growing in countries like the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, they said.
And as the network strengthens existing links with groups like the Abu Sayyaf separatists and infiltrates Muslim organisations, including unsuspecting charities, Singapore could be placed increasingly at risk because of the
perception that the republic is pro-America.
"There are plans by Al-Qaeda, which is already funding and training a few Islamist groups in Indonesia and Malaysia, to widen and deepen their influence in the region. Singapore must be very careful," analyst Rohan Gunaratna
told The Straits Times.
He wrote in Jane's Intelligence Review this month that Al-Qaeda cells had been identified in about 50 countries.
He has been researching the network for 15 years and is a fellow at the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at St Andrew's University in Scotland.
And Assistant Professor Andrew Tan, a Singapore-based specialist on conflicts in South-east Asia said if the terrorist groups attacked Singapore, the target
would be the Changi Naval Base, which allows access to US warships.
Al Qaeda, known for its anti-American ideology, targets US property and citizens.
But with increasingly stringent security measures and improved intelligence ability in the US, "the next logical step will be for them to attack American
allies which are not so prepared", added Dr Tan.
For the moment though, Al-Qaeda is extending its influence in Asia by investing in literature and Internet propaganda, infiltrating Muslim non-governmental organisations, sending out extremist preachers, and taking extremist leaders to Afghanistan for training, said Dr Gunaratna.
The experts attribute the increase in Al-Qaeda's regional influence to factors such as the resurgence of Islam, separatist movements in places such as
Indonesia's Aceh province and Mindanao in the Philippines, and heightened alertness of Western and Middle East governments -- which forces Al-Qaeda to seek other opportunities in Asia.
Dr Tan said: "It is only a matter of time before Al-Qaeda links up with south-east Asian Islamic extremists."
He pointed out that the Acehnese leadership and Muslim refugees in Sabah were suspected of having connections with the network, while there is hard evidence
that Muslim rebels in Mindanao are receiving funding.
Dr Gunaratna said Malaysia's Parti Islam SeMalaysia was friendly with Osama.
He also estimates that over the past decade, at least 100 South-east Asians have been ideologically brainwashed and trained in Afghanistan in areas such as
use of advanced explosives and assassination.
Funding for the network comes from its involvement in high-profit activities such as drug production, arms sales and money laundering, said former Indian ambassador to Laos S. D. Muni, who researches ethnic conflict and Third
World security. The experts said the transnational problem required governments to cooperate in gathering intelligence.
Con't...
HEADLINE: A GUIDE TO NEUTRALISING OSAMA
BYLINE: PTI
BODY:
THE KEY to disrupting, degrading and destroying international terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden's outfit Al-Qaeda (the base) lies in developing a multi-pronged, multi-dimensional and multinational strategy that targets
the core and the penultimate leadership, says Jane's Intelligence Review .
According to its report, it said the current strategies to defeat Al-Qaeda by targeting Bin Laden's top-tier command will not be effective. "Instead, the strongest actions are currently being taken by US intelligence agencies, who are
slowly squeezing life out from the organisation," the weekly said.
"The key to disrupting, degrading and destroying Al-Qaeda lies in developing a multi-pronged strategy that targets the core and the penultimate leadership and the network's sources of finance and supplies," the Intelligence Review
said.
It said despite Europe and the United State's anti-terrorist successes, Bin laden's Al-Qaeda network remains resilient, with a membership of 3,000 to 5,000
men worldwide.
A global conglomerate of groups operating as a network has a worldwide reach, with a presence in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, Jordan, Tajikistan, Syria
and 31 other countries.
Al-Qaeda has built strategic depth by maintaining leadership and operational links with some of the largest and deadliest middle eastern and Asia terrorist
groups, the Jane's Intelligence Review said.
Con't:
Cutting Al-Qaeda down to size
GRAPHIC: Graphic: Matchbooks bearing the image of Osama bin Laden began appearing in Pakistan in February 2000. Similar matchbooks with Ramzi Yousef's image were dropped over Afghanistan by the CIA after the World Trade Center
bombing. The script reads "Osama bin Laden - up to 500,000 dollar reward."
More to be posted... |
