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Indonesia Defence and Security Report Q4 2009Published by: Business Monitor International Published: Oct. 3, 2009 - 58 Pages Table of Contents
AbstractIndonesia’s security forces scored a major victory in September by killing fugitive Islamist militantNoordin Mohammad Top in a shoot-out in Central Java. The authorities stated that DNA tests hadconfirmed Top’s identity. The tests were necessary because following a similar shoot-out in August, aman initially thought to be Top turned out not to be.Top was one of South East Asia’s most wanted men due to his role in masterminding terror attacks inIndonesia, including Bali and Jakarta, over the past decade. Although born in Malaysia, he was mostactive in Indonesia under the regional militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), but later broke with JI to setup his own group. His elusiveness had been a thorn in the side of the Indonesian security forces, whoseeffectiveness was questioned after bomb attacks against major hotels in Jakarta in July. As such, Top’sdeath should reduce the immediate security risk ahead of US President Barack Obama’s planned visit inNovember. Nevertheless, Top’s death does not mean that Indonesia can lower its guard. Local police are said to beconcerned about knee-jerk retaliation by Top’s associates and it is quite likely that Top’s knowledge andexperience of planning terror attacks have been passed on to his followers, who are still at large. More broadly, there are several structural reasons for Indonesia’s continuing vulnerability to terrorattacks. First, there is the country’s sheer geographical size, with thousands of remote and sparselypopulated islands where terrorists can train. Second, despite modest economic growth in recent years, tensof millions of people remain in deep poverty and are unemployed or underemployed, meaning that thereis a sizeable pool of potential recruits for militant groups. Third, terror groups have shown great determination to target Westerners in Indonesia. Fourth, despite thedecline in support for hard-line Islamic parties in recent years, there have been signs of increasingintolerance, mainly in socio-cultural matters (e.g. the adoption of shari’a law in some localities). Thesefactors mean that the security forces will need to remain vigilant going forward. Get Full Details About This Report >> |
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