Fed: Indon group has little ability to carry out attacks

AAP General News (Australia)
08-08-2006
Fed: Indon group has little ability to carry out attacks

By Max Blenkin

CANBERRA, Aug 8 AAP - An Indonesian militant leader who claimed to have sent suicide
bombers to attack Jewish targets, possibly including some in Australia, does not appear
to have the means to carry out his threats, a US think-tank says.

Private sector intelligence group Stratfor said Suaib Didu, self-styled leader of the
so-called ASEAN Muslim Youth Movement (AMYM), claimed to have sent 217 suicide bombers
to the Middle East to avenge Israeli attacks against the Palestinian territories and Lebanon.

Australian newspaper reports said Didu's bombers included 72 Indonesians plus citizens
of six other southeast Asian nations who would attack Jewish targets in countries such
as Britain, the US and possibly Australia.

Stratfor said Didu had made such threats before but he had yet to stage any attack
against any western institutions in Indonesia.

"If Didu-led groups are incapable of smashing up a McDonald's in Jakarta, they probably
cannot carry out suicide bombings against Israeli forces in Lebanon or the Palestinian
territories," Stratfor said in recent analysis.

It said his group had no link with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
and it appeared he had just co-opted the name to make it appear bigger than it was.

In 2003, Didu, who was then associated with the Indonesian Islamic Youth Movement (GPI),
threatened to attack Western interests in Indonesia, including the US embassy and fast
food outlets, in response to the US invasion of Iraq. No attacks materialised.

Following the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, he claimed to have dispatched more than
3,100 volunteers to fight with the Taliban.

Stratfor said US troops in Afghanistan have encountered foreign fighters from southeast
Asia but none appeared to have been Didu's volunteers.

Didu did appear to have had some impact closer to home with Indonesia's largest book
outlet pulling some titles associated with communism following a GPI book burning in May
2001.

Stratfor said Indonesia, with its huge muslim population, had never been overtly radical
with support for militant causes usually surging when a muslim country entered a conflict
with the west.

"If Didu had any chance of amassing any kind of support, now would be his best opportunity,"

it said.

However, just 200 masked men attended his weekend rally on Borneo after he claimed
there would be 3,000.

"Although Didu's claims should not be ignored, they do not appear to represent a serious
threat. If he is gaining power, which appears unlikely, he probably will first try to
stage violent demonstrations in Indonesia," Stratfor said.

AAP mb/sb/sd

KEYWORD: INDON AUST

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