05Aug 03 12.30 a high explosive device was detonated outside the J W Marriott Hotel in central Jakarta, ID, resulting in the deaths of 11 people, injury to nearly 150 others, and substantial damage to the surrounding area. While no group had, at that stage, credibly assumed responsibility for the attack, it bore distinct similarities to the Bali bombing of 12 October 2002 that killed 202 people, together with the attack on the Philippine Ambassador�s residence that killed two and injured 21 people. Due to the similarities in these respective attacks, it had been assessed that the latest attack was probably also perpetrated by Jemaah Islamiah (JI). This organization has since assumed responsibility for the latest blast. C2 COMMENT The porous borders also prevent challenges to security forces in TL. The one advantage for TL is that Dili provides the best possible targets and as such the focus of security forces can be restricted to the town. The PKF Threat Assessment (TA) assesses the threat from terrorist activity in Dili as MEDIUM this threat level is unlikely to change in the medium term. END COMMENT
11 Aug 03 Riauan Isamuddin know Hambali was arrest by Thai police and was hand over to Us official . Hambali is the acting chief of Jemaah Islamiyah, a group that is basically a franchise of al Qaeda in Southeast Asia. He has served as a link between the groups, and was the only non-Arab to sit on al Qaeda's leadership council.
19 Aug 03 Truck blasts at UN Iraq�s HQ and kills 20 in BAGHDAD, IRAQ A cement truck packed with explosives detonated outside the offices of the top U.N. envoy in Iraq on Tuesday, killing him and 19 other people and devastating the U.N. headquarters here in an unprecedented suicide attack against the world body. At least 100 people were wounded. The bombing blasted a 6-foot-deep crater in the ground, shredded the facade of the Canal Hotel housing U.N. offices and stunned an organization that had been welcomed by many Iraqis, in contrast to the U.S.-led occupation forces. Except for a newly built concrete wall, U.N. officials at the headquarters refused the sort of heavy security that the U.S. military has put up around some sensitive civilian sites. The United Nations "did not want a large American presence outside," Salim Lone, the U.N. spokesman in the Iraqi capital, said. Emergency workers pulled bloodied survivors from the rubble and lined up the dead in body bags. Survivors reported other victims still buried. The 4:30 p.m. blast may have specifically targeted Sergio Vieira de Mello, the top U.N. envoy, said L. Paul Bremer, who heads the U.S.-led administration in Iraq. "The truck was parked in such a place here in front of the building that it had to affect his office," Bremer said.
Vieira de Mello � a 55-year-old veteran diplomat serving in what one U.N. spokesman called the world body's toughest assignment � was meeting with other U.N. officials in his office when the explosion brought the room down around them. Vieira de Mello was wounded and trapped in the rubble, and workers gave him water as they tried to extricate him. Hours later, the United Nations announced his death. "Those who killed him have committed a crime, not only against the United Nations but against Iraq itself," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a statement, calling the Brazilian diplomat "an outstanding servant of humanity." U.N. officials vowed to continue their mission in Iraq. But the blast, the shock at being targeted and the death of a rising star beloved in the organization struck deep. All the national flags that ring the U.N. headquarters' entrance in New York were removed from their poles, and the blue-and-white U.N. flag was lowered to half staff. Staffers, tears in their eyes, gathered in hallways and watched in shock as televisions reported on his death.
C2 Comment: The indications are that this was a deliberate attack not only to maximize casualties but to target the UN top man in Iraq specifically. While there has been no claim for responsibility of the attack, open source reporting has suggested Al-Qaeda involvement. There is a strong possibility as well that this could be the work of remnants or supporter of Saddam's regime.
In any case, the implication, given the intent of the attack, is not only for Iraq and the US led mission there, but also for the UN as a whole.
Within TL, the terrorist threat assessment was recently reviewed after the spate of incidents leading up to the Jakarta bomb at the Marriot recently. The threat assessment, which is already at MEDIUM for Dili, remains.
Nonetheless, this attack in Iraq trips the trigger for a review. The focus would be to ensure the current physical security measures in place are followed diligently.
In addition all PKF troops and staff are reminded to be vigilant against any suspicious activity, while avoiding as far as possible, entertainment and dining areas in DILI that attract a large amount of International staff which present easy soft targets. End Comment.
On 02 Sep 03 Judges were reading their verdict on alleged terror group leader Abu Bakar Bashir after a trial which was seen as a key test of Indonesia's willingness to battle Islamic extremism.
Bashir could face life in prison if convicted of trying to topple the secular government of the world's largest Muslim-populated nation and to set up an Islamic state.
Prosecutors, who have asked for a 15-year jail term, say the 65-year-old Muslim cleric heads the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).
The Southeast Asian network is blamed for a string of bloody attacks including Indonesian church bombings which killed 19 people on Christmas Eve 2000, the Bali blasts last October 12 which killed 202 people and last month's Jakarta hotel blast that claimed 12 lives.
JI, which is also linked to a bombing in the Philippines and bomb plots in Singapore and Thailand, dreams of creating a regional Islamic state.
Judges were reading a 222-page summary of the evidence before pronouncing Bashir guilty or innocent, probably late in the afternoon.
About 400 of Bashir's followers, many wearing military fatigues and keffiyeh-style headdresses, had gathered outside in a noisy show of support. Some were allowed into the courtroom. Most supporters were from MMI, which campaigns for Islamic sharia law in Indonesia, and had travelled from Bashir's home region around the Central Java city of Solo. Australia's foreign ministry warned its nationals to exercise "extreme caution" and to stay away from the court area when the verdict is delivered. It said the trials of extremists could prompt demonstrations or acts of terrorism.
Bashir is not accused over the Bali blasts but is charged with approving the Christmas Eve attacks, a foiled bombing campaign in Singapore, and an aborted plot to kill Megawati Sukarnoputri before she became president.
He says the United States and other �infidel enemies� of Islam framed him because he was struggling to introduce sharia.
22Sep 03 2 Killed, 19 Wounded in Iraq Car Bombing checkpoint outside U.N. headquarters in Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide bomber, his body wrapped in explosives and his car filled with 50 pounds of TNT, struck a police checkpoint outside U.N. headquarters in Baghdad on Monday, killing an Iraqi policeman who stopped him and wounding 19 The bomber, who also died in the 8:10 a.m. blast, was trying to get into the U.N. compound at the Canal Hotel,
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