PART 4 - Rabitatul Mujahidin as Cross Border Terrorist Network

CROSS BORDER TERRORISM: THE LINK BETWEEN MALAYSIA MILITANT GROUP (KMM) & JEMAAH ISLAMIYAH (JI) - CONNECTION AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR REGIONAL SECURITY

Article by: Dr Mizan Aslam

PART 4 - Rabitatul Mujahidin as Cross Border Terrorist Network

Hambali was propelled into JI’s upper echelon in 1997 and this promotion created opportunities for travel. Hambali travelled to the Southern Philippines in 1997 and spent a month at Camp Abu Bakar, the camp that was established by his partner Nasir Abas who was ranked as the leader of Mantiqi Tsalis. Hambali also visited Mindanao and West Java several times between 1997 and 1999. He also managed to visit Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh with Nasir Abas in 1998 under orders from Sungkar. They had gone there to meet leaders of RSO in order to establish networks to find new training fields. This visit was established to discuss the possibility of RSO’s inclusion under the JI umbrella for an Islamic Caliphate. But this project was cancelled because of the danger in the area and a series of attacks by Myanmar soldiers against Arakanese rebels. The lack of proper areas for training purposes was also among the factors contributing to the cancellation. 

Hambali was responsible for establishing a meeting of the first Rabitatul Mujahidin in December 1999 at Kuala Lumpur. After Ba’asyir succeeded as JI’s amir, he initiated a Rabitatul Mujahidin meeting. Hambali as the leader of Mantiqi Ula, was appointed as the organiser for that meeting. Ba’asyir directed and communicated with Hambali through his nest at Pasantren al-Mukmin, Ngruki. Rabitatul Mujahidin was conceived as a discreet platform for Southeast Asian jihadists. Hambali directed Faiz Abu Bakar Bafana (Faiz) to host the first Rabitatul Mujahidin meeting at Faiz’s house in Gombak, Selangor.

Attendees came from various groups of the region, from Indonesia came Ba’asyir as a JI’s amir and Hambali. Abu Jihad represented the Acheh Separatist Movement, Lamkaruna Putra the Republik Islam Acheh (RIA), Agus Dwikarna the South Sulawesi Movement, Abu Hurairah the Moro Islamic Liberation Front Southern (MILF), Abdul Fatah the Southern Thailand, Salimullah and the representative from the Rohingyas olidarity Organization (RSO), the Pattani United Liberation Organization (PULO) and Laskar Jundullah (LJ). Some sources say that more than 15 people were present at the meeting. At the Rabitatul Mujahidin meeting, JI hoped that its alliance groups could cooperate and share resources for training, the procurement of weapons, and financial assistance along with the needs of jihad.

Soon after the first meeting, the Ambon tragedy occurred in Maluku, one of the important Spice Islands in Indonesia. The seed of the conflict was discussed at the first Rabitatul Mujahidin meeting, but there was no action taken. JI’s saw Mantiqi Tsalis as having the ability to handle this situation. But in the end, Hambali took action to collect some money to help the Ambonese Muslims through the Pertubuhan al-Ehasan (PAE), the NGO he founded and operated openly at a shop-lot in Teluk Panglima Garang, Banting Selangor. PAE carried out welfare projects to conceal its motives but it was generally to coordinate activities of JI members who were sent for arms training in the Southern Philippines for jihad in Ambon.

Within two weeks Hambali gathered around RM68, 000 to be channelled to Ambon Mujahidin. Hambali was a clever leader. He collected money from JI members to fund their operation, but when the Ambon issue come, he managed to get funds from Malaysian society in general, and not just JI followers.
“In the name of humanitarian missions, the PAE was also linked with another international NGO, with 70 affiliates worldwide, to help refugees in Afghanistan”

Hambali was also responsible for organizing two more Rabitatul Mujahidin meetings in Malaysia. In June 2000, Hambali organized a second meeting at the Park Avenue apartment, a luxury house owned by Yazid Sufaat in Ampang, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. This meeting was attended by the same participants as the first meeting except for Faiz Abu Bakar Bafana, the new Malaysian JI representative. It is believed that it was just an informal meeting, but even so the creation of an Islamic Caliphate in the near future was discussed.

The third Rabitatul Mujahidin meeting was held in November the same year at a resort in Sungkai, Perak. All who were involved in the first two meetings was present, but there were few new faces from Indonesia and Malaysia. Rabitatul Mujahidin main objective was to discuss cooperation at the operational level and training, education and financing of Southeast Asia jihadist activities. JI attacks throughout the region on the basis of the co-operation and planner attacks have launched. Some expert said, if Rabitatul Mujahidin successful, this group would have an active member base of more than 400 million people including 75 million men who were ready for military service. The greater group would also have access to the shipping lanes in the South China Sea virtually guaranteeing unlimited access from Asia through to the Indian Ocean to India, Africa and Oceania.

IKUTI KAMI 

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