The plot thickens
The Bush administration claims credit for the arrest of yet another leading Al-Qa'eda agent. Khaled Dawoud reports from Washington
Who is Hambali? That was the question experts on the terrorist group Al-Qa'eda asked as soon as United States President George W Bush personally trumpeted the news of his arrest last week, describing him as "one of the world's most lethal terrorists".
Since Al-Qa'eda drew worldwide infamy when it carried out its attacks on 11 September 2001, the name Hambali has not appeared on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) lists of most wanted terrorists, and he has never been identified as one of the close associates of the group's fugitive Saudi leader, Osama Bin Laden.
However, in announcing his arrest last week, President Bush said that the man, a 36-year-old Indonesian national named Radwan Isamuddin -- also known as Hambali -- was "a known killer. He was a close associate of 11 September mastermind Khaled Sheikh Mohamed who was arrested in Pakistan in March." Bush added that Hambali was "suspected of planning major terrorist operations, including that which occurred in Bali, Indonesia last year, and other recent attacks". Like several suspected Al-Qa'eda militants arrested over the past two years, US authorities also accused Hambali of playing a role in planning the bombing of the destroyer USS Cole, in Yemen in October 2001, killing 17 US servicemen.
After initially refusing to announce the whereabouts of his arrest, US officials later stated that Hambali was captured in Ayutthaya, a town 50 miles north of Bangkok, Thailand. They added that the Thai government did not want to disclose its role in his capture, fearing the effect that would have on its tourism industry.
In recent weeks, President Bush has personally taken the responsibility of announcing arrests of leading Al-Qa'eda members, instead of leaving that mission to law enforcement and intelligence agencies. In a news conference earlier this month, the US president also announced the arrest of another previously unknown suspected Al-Qa'eda member, whom he named as Abu Bakr. Journalists were puzzled by the announcement, as they did not recognise the name. It later came out that Abu Bakr was one of several Saudis arrested recently by Saudi police in the raids they led after the May bombing of a residential compound where Americans lived in Riyadh. Bush's announcement of Abu Bakr's and Hambali's detentions came before Saudi Arabia or Thailand acknowledged their capture.
Clearly seeking to assure the US public that his administration is not relenting in its war against terror as a result of the ongoing quagmire in Iraq, Bush said while announcing Hambali's arrest, "He is no longer a problem to those of us who love freedom, and neither are nearly two-thirds of known senior Al-Qa'eda leaders, operational managers and key facilitators, who have been captured or have been killed." He added, "We are making progress. Slowly, but surely, we're doing our duty to our fellow citizens."
However, despite asserting victory, Bush conceded that "Al-Qa'eda's still active, and they're still recruiting, and they're still a threat, because we won't cower: But every terrorist can be certain of this: wherever they are, we will hunt them down, one by one, until they are no longer a threat to the people who live in the United States of America."
Indonesian authorities said they wanted to question Hambali whom they described as the military leader of Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiyah group in Southeast Asia. They said they believed he was also responsible for the latest bombing of a five-star hotel in Jakarta on 5 August, killing 12 people.
US officials said they were also investigating whether Hambali was in Thailand to plot a terrorist attack during the Asia-Pacific summit when President Bush attends next month with 20 other world leaders.
If Hambali was indeed linked to Al-Qa'eda, that would confirm the fears of US anti-terrorism officials that the terrorist organisation maintained a loose structure with affiliates in several countries, carrying out attacks without necessarily receiving orders from the group's leadership. According to US officials, Hambali was responsible for plotting several attacks in Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia. Following his arrest in Thailand, the CIA flew him to an undisclosed location, as they did with many leading Al-Qa'eda suspects arrested over the past two years.
C a p t i o n :
Hambali
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 21 - 27 August 2003 (Issue No. 652)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/652/in1.htm