Major terror figure
in custody, U.S. says
Top director of Jemaah Islamiyeh
allegedly planned Bali bombings
MSNBC AND NBC NEWS
Aug. 14 — The White House said Thursday that the top operations leader of the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyeh, which has been closely linked to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network, was in custody. Riduan bin Isamuddin is accused of planning the bombing of a tourist district in Bali that killed 202 people in October.
FEW DETAILS WERE immediately available, but U.S. officials told NBC News that Isamuddin was captured in Southeast Asia by agents of the United States and a second nation described as “a Southeast Asian partner.”
Isamuddin was in U.S. custody at an undisclosed location, the officials said.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters aboard Air Force One that Isamuddin’s capture “is another important victory in the global war on terrorism and a significant blow to the enemy.” The White House planned to make a formal announcement shortly, officials told NBC News.
TOP-LEVEL FIGURE
The officials described Isamuddin as the most important terrorist figure to have been captured other than al-Qaida’s chief terrorist planner, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Isamuddin, who is also known as Hambali, is believed to be the director of operations and chief director in Asia of Jemmah Islamiyeh, an Islamist extremist group based in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian nations.
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Its stated goal is the creation of a single Islamic state encompassing Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the southern Philippines.
Jemmah Islamiyeh is blamed not only for the Bali bombing last year but also for the bombing of a Marriott hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, last week, in which 12 people died. Isamuddin is believed to have planned both operations, U.S. officials said. |
