News and Document archive source
copyrighted material disclaimer at bottom of page

NewsMinewar-on-terroralqaeda — Viewing Item


Group recruits muslims { December 4 2005 }

Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
   http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Indonesia_Suicide_Bombers.html

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Indonesia_Suicide_Bombers.html

Sunday, December 4, 2005 · Last updated 12:45 p.m. PT

Indonesians ask why Muslims turn to bombs

By ROBIN MCDOWELL
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

PAMARICAN, Indonesia -- Aip Hidayat was a devout Muslim but showed no signs of fanaticism. He did not force his younger sister to wear a head scarf, chastise friends for skipping prayers or get into fiery debates about the U.S. war in Iraq. Yet the 21-year-old became the seventh person to carry out a suicide bombing in Indonesia, something many said was inconceivable just a few years ago.

Hidayat's mother says al-Qaida-linked terrorists recruited her eldest son as a foot soldier for their "holy war," poisoning his views on Islam so he would take part in triple suicide bombings on Oct. 1 that killed 20 people on the resort island of Bali.

"They used him," Siti Rokayah, 40, said quietly, sitting on a straw mat in a cramped two bedroom hut, photographs of a smiling and carefree Hidayat scattered before her. "I hope whoever did this to my son will be arrested and punished."

Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation, but most people here practice a moderate form of the faith.

Still, militant Islam appears to be gaining a strong foothold, with five deadly attacks targeting Western interests since 2002. More than 240 people have died, many of them Indonesians.

The secular government has responded by launching its first-ever campaign against hard-line interpretations of Islam - something it shied away from doing in the past for fear of being seen as subservient to the United States.



"What is happening is that today we arrest 10 people, but the ideology continues and the extremists can recruit 50 more people," Vice President Yusuf Kalla said, calling on Islamic leaders and politicians to help change that.

For emphasis, he showed them videotaped confessions of Hidayat and the two other Bali bombers, some of them laughing and saying they expected to go to heaven the next day.

"Not just me, but the clerics, too, were shocked," Kalla said.

The Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network first emerged in the early 1990s with the goal of creating an Islamic state across Southeast Asia. But it has been reinvigorated by U.S. foreign policy in Israel and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"They see themselves as fighting a new world battle. ... They say, we can attack civilians anywhere, just as Americans attack Muslim civilians all over the world," said Nasir Abbas, a key Jemaah Islamiyah operative until his arrest in 2003 on immigration charges.

"They say their intention is not to kill Muslims ... but (the) feeling is: 'We are in battle, we use anything we have, anything we are able to do, we do,'" said Abbas, who cooperating with police to expose the inner workings of the network.

Hundreds of Jemaah Islamiyah members have been arrested in a regionwide crackdown and the remaining leaders are on the run, making it hard but not impossible to find new recruits - as the Oct. 1 bombings showed.

In the past, the group relied heavily on a handful of Islamic high schools committed to jihadist principles - the most notorious of which was founded by the group's alleged spiritual leader, Abu Bakar Bashir. It is now under close government watch.

They appear now to be turning to people like Hidayat who, at least outwardly, showed no militant tendencies.

"In at least a couple of cases, it looks like they're going after the lowest common denominator, relatively simple village boys, and recruiting them with frightening ease and dizzying speed," said Ken Conboy, author of several books on Southeast Asian terrorism.

"Sometimes the guy's gone for just a few weeks or months and he's strapping bombs to his back."

Among the promises made to the would-be bombers is that martyrdom is a fast track to heaven - not just for them, but for 72 of their relatives, he and others say.

Such a message would resonate with many young men whose families have lived for generations in the same poor village and see little hope of ever making something of themselves, said Solahudin Wahid, vice chairman of the country's largest Islamic organization Nadhlatul Ulama.

"Some of these young men don't have a deep knowledge of Islam and can easily be brainwashed into militancy," he said. "They are easily tantalized. Now it's our turn to teach them. Islam is not like that. Muslims are not allowed to attack if not attacked themselves."

Still, family and friends in Hidayat's village of Pamarican, surrounded by terraced rice paddies and rich tropical brush, do not understand how it happened to one of their own boys.

Though they acknowledge seeing little of Hidayat after he left for Islamic boarding school in 2000, they described the oldest of five children as a shy but serious young man, a good student who might one day become a teacher.

"As a father, what was happened with Aip has made me very worried. Can terrorists do the same to my son?" said Yayat Suhayat, a neighbor and father of three.

"All parents here have learned a very important lesson. We have to keep a closer eye on our children. ... We can't lose contact with them for even one day."




american-alqaeda-video
bl-sons
chinese-boston-threat
cia-bomb-maker
dutch-alqaeda
egypt-nov-2004
khan
kidnappings
prince-charles
trumped-up-terror-charges
15 pakistani troops die in alqaida hunt { March 23 2004 }
16 alqaeda spain { January 24 2003 }
Administration feed terror suspect
Al qaeda detainee spoke of fire plot
Algiers suicide bombers were jailed { December 14 2007 }
Alqaeda 18000 potential at large { May 25 2004 }
Alqaeda algerians in uk { September 14 2003 }
Alqaeda arrest tips effective { March 3 2003 }
Alqaeda arrests { February 4 2003 }
Alqaeda enemy in america
Alqaeda fighters denies being killed on web { September 15 2005 }
Alqaeda fires rockets from jordan hits israel
Alqaeda group may not exist
Alqaeda hobbled by arrest { March 3 2003 }
Alqaeda just bush boogeyman { January 11 2005 }
Alqaeda leader in iraq killed again
Alqaeda myth blown out of proportion { May 23 2002 }
Alqaeda number 2 cites failed pakistan airstrike { January 30 2006 }
Alqaeda opeartive has australian accent { August 10 2005 }
Alqaeda plans oil fields { March 11 2003 }
Alqaeda plot foiled in germany { December 3 2004 }
Alqaeda searches russia
Alqaeda seeks to expand operations { April 20 2007 }
Alqaeda singapore plot
Alqaeda suspect knows saudi prince phone number
Alqaeda tape urges western attacks { May 21 2003 }
Alqaeda targets russell crowe
Alqaeda threat norway doesnt make sense { May 21 2003 }
Alqaeda threatens france for headscarf ban
Alqaeda to help wage sectarian iraq war { February 9 2004 }
Alqaeda video trainig shooting kids { March 9 2003 }
Alqaeda web posts threats { December 8 2002 }
Alqaida accused US of faking alqaeda letter { October 14 2005 }
Alqaida crippled says mossad
Alqaida funded by 12 { October 20 2002 }
Alqaida is 70 percent gone says state department { January 23 2004 }
Alqaida possessed tactical nuclear weapons
Alqaida strike again { October 17 2002 }
Alqeada starts forest fires says fbi
Alzarqawi reportly arrested in iraq
American soldier gave alqaeda information { February 12 2004 }
American voice on new terror video { October 29 2004 }
Assad doubts existance al qaeda
Authorities close muslim school in germany
Bin laden deputy claims US on brink of defeat
Binladen top deputy zawahri sends videotape
Bombing in algeria claimed by new alqaeda branch
Bombings may spur antiterror unity { May 19 2003 }
Briefing depicted saudis as enemies backing terrorism { August 6 2002 }
Britain charges 8 in alqaeda plot { August 18 2004 }
Britain says 1600 british born alqaeda terrorists { November 10 2006 }
Britain sheltering al qaeda leader { July 8 2002 }
British connection alqaida revolving door { February 14 2002 }
British thwart hijacking terror attacks
Bush policies directly funding alqaeda { January 2007 }
Captured alqaeda kingpin is mistaken identity { May 8 2005 }
Cia paid pakistan bounty for alqaida suspects { September 26 2006 }
Cia says iraq recruiting tool for islamic extremists { February 17 2005 }
Citizen convincted alqaeda assassination plot
Colombia busts hamas alqaeda false passport ring
Confusion persists over iraq alqaeda leaders identity { May 10 2008 }
Convincted drug dealer praised in terror plot role { June 4 2007 }
Counterterror analyst says alqaeda at pre911 strength { July 12 2007 }
Dirty bomb
Disinformation alqaeda
Europeans training terrorists in iraq
Experts doubt validity on jfk airport plot { June 5 2007 }
Fbi alert for sleeper cell
Fitandwell un { August 29 2002 }
Fort bragg sergeant aided bilnladen followers { May 20 1999 }
France ricin found
German police raid mosque for islamic extremist videos
Group kidnaps toy soldier in iraq { February 2 2005 }
Group recruits muslims { December 4 2005 }
Gunman attack consulate in saudi arabia { December 6 2004 }
Indonesian islamic groups controlled by intelligence { October 16 2005 }
Intel says alqaeda strong based pakistan border { July 17 2007 }
Iran accuses us not serious { May 28 2003 }
Iraq new terror breeding ground war created haven { January 14 2005 }
Iraq replaces afghanistan as top terror training spot { January 14 2005 }
Iraq terrorists radicalized by occupation of iraq { July 17 2005 }
Iraq war boosted alqaeda { May 20 2003 }
Jet misses hawaii skyrise
Jordanians doubt zarqawi is even alive { November 12 2005 }
Lax shooting
Lebanon alqaeda
Losing africa afghanistan { November 8 2002 }
Malaysia alqaida
Mastermind of madrid { July 29 2004 }
Memo details alqaeda saddam cooperation { November 24 2003 }
MI5 let alqaida in britain
Middle class muslims recuited in british universities { July 10 2005 }
Militants rigged koran with explosives { November 12 2003 }
Military manual advocates employing terrorists { June 15 2008 }
Musharraf says alqaeda not headquartered in pakistan { July 26 2005 }
Mystery shrouds alqaeda escape in yemen
New alqaeda tape reveals video process { January 31 2006 }
New alqaeda treath from southeast asia division { November 30 2005 }
New york bomb plot overblown { July 10 2006 }
New york terror case based on unscrupulous informant { January 9 2007 }
NY police creates terrorism to solve { January 9 2007 }
Officials see signs revived alqaeda { May 17 2003 }
Osama deputy letter says iraq to be islamic
Osama plot kill bush
Pakistan army closes in on alqaeda
Pakistan arrests nations most wanted alqaida militant { May 4 2005 }
Pakistan religious schools in spotlight { July 25 2005 }
Pakistan remains terror hub with US effort { July 25 2005 }
Pakistani army kills al qaeda suspects { October 3 2003 }
Pentagon unit mission to manipulate alqaeda { August 13 2005 }
Pope comments ignite alqaeda response of doom
Ptech terror link { December 7 2002 }
Ptech terror navy fbi
Qaeda sympathisers use rap to recruit { September 11 2001 }
Reid blames zionists { October 3 2002 }
Report says iraq war strenghening alqaeda { July 17 2007 }
Saudi alqaeda chief was saudi police { June 21 2004 }
Saudi amensty program nets alqaeda leaders { July 14 2004 }
Saudi sheik allows bin laden to nuke americans
Shooting at la airport terrorism { April 12 2003 }
Sleeper cells
Soldiers mutilated over iraqi woman rape incident
Spain arrests more alqaeda { September 18 2003 }
Suicide bomber comes from US secret detentions { July 25 2007 }
Suspect says mi5 can clear his name { October 22 2001 }
Suspected alqaeda agents seen everywhere { May 28 2004 }
Syrian leader doubts al qaidas existance { May 26 2003 }
Tape with terror threat is broadcast { October 29 2004 }
Terror suspect paints alqaeda picture in plea bargain
Terrorist factory running at guantanamo bay { June 17 2008 }
The rise of suicide bombing around the world { July 17 2005 }
Top alqaeda expert top candidate for mi5 boss { December 17 2006 }
Top alqaida lieutenants escaped before testifying { November 1 2005 }
Trinidad group denies link to NYC plot { May 2007 }
Truck driver pleads guilty alqaeda plot { June 20 2003 }
Tunisian soccer player convincted alqaida trial
Turkish alqaida group claims responsbiliity for istanbul attacks
Uk says alqaeda making dirty bomb { January 31 2003 }
US allows saudis to finance alqaeda { July 26 2007 }
Us and uk trade terrorism like commodity { September 25 2005 }
Us intelligence says alqaeda ineffecitve
US missile parts at alqaeda target site
US picks new iraq alqaeda leader from jail { July 6 2006 }
US says alqaeda near defeat { May 30 2008 }
US says mossad agent is american alqaeda leader
Us soldier charged in alqaeda sting
War spread terrorism { June 16 2002 }
White man with bomb at capitol gets little attention { April 30 2008 }
White supremacy leader supports alqaeda { March 29 2005 }
World wide hunt 4 alleged members
Yemeni cleric sentenced to terror conspiracy { July 29 2005 }
Zarqawi boogie man may not exist { July 5 2005 }
Zarqawi linked to alqaeda and nothern kurds and saddam { October 9 2004 }

Files Listed: 153



Correction/submissions

CIA FOIA Archive

National Security
Archives
Support one-state solution for Israel and Palestine Tea Party bumper stickers JFK for Dummies, The Assassination made simple