US captures JI head Hambali
WASHINGTON -- The United States on Thursday announced the capture of a top Asian ally of Osama bin Laden, Hambali, the accused mastermind of last year's Bali bombing and a series of other deadly attacks.
Hambali is reportedly being held in a secret location for questioning by FBI officers and Thai authorities. -- AP
The 36-year-old Islamic scholar, also linked to a blast at the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta last week, was captured in South-east Asia this week, the US administration said.
A senior official told reporters that other countries helped with the detention of Hambali, an Indonesian, but would not name the states involved or give other details of the capture.
The Nation newspaper in Bangkok, however, quoted unidentified sources as saying he was picked up in Ayutthaya, an ancient temple city in central Thailand this week.
It also claimed he was plotting to strike again in October when leaders from the 21-nation Asia Pacific Cooperation, including US President George W. Bush, meet in Thailand.
Speaking in San Diego, Mr Bush hailed the capture, saying Hambali was 'one of the world's most lethal terrorists.
'He's a known killer who was a close associate of Sept 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.'
Aussie PM hails capture
Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Friday hailed the capture of Indonesian terror suspect Hambali, calling him 'the ultimate mastermind' behind the October 2002 Bali bombing that killed 88 Australians.
'There should be universal relief and pleasure that a man as evil as Hambali has been caught,' he told reporters at a Pacific Islands Forum in Auckland hours after the Indonesian's capture was announced by US officials.
'We have caught the ultimate mastermind and that is very good news.
'So to those relatives and friends of the 88 Australians who died in that outrage almost a year ago, I hope this is some further measure of justice,' he said.
US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who is visiting Australia, said Hambali's arrest would 'constipate the flow of money' to terror groups in south-east Asia.
He also said the arrest would undoubtedly shed light on terrorist planning and activities in Asia, providing the opportunity to capture more of his comrades. -- AFP
Hambali, also known as Riduan Issamudin, is the chief of the radical Jemaah Islamiah group, a regional terrorist network in South-east Asia that is affiliated with the Al-Qaeda.
He is wanted in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines in connection with a series of bombing plans and attacks.
The US official said Hambali was being interrogated in US custody at a secret location, and that Mr Bush was informed of the capture on Wednesday, while on vacation at his Crawford, Texas ranch.
In Jakarta, the Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said the ministry had not been informed of the capture. 'The foreign ministry has not received this information. I can not confirm this report,' he told AFP.
Hambali has long been spoken of as a top terrorist suspect.
According to the US official, he helped to arrange a meeting in Malaysia in January 2000 that included two men who went on to become hijackers in the strikes on New York and Washington in Sept 11, 2001.
He also reportedly received a 'large sum of money for a major attack' earlier this year.
The money was handed over by an Al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan.
The official would not say whether that attack was thwarted or still in the planning stages, but said Hambali would be interrogated as 'part of ongoing efforts to neutralise the threat'.
The bombing on the Indonesian resort island of Bali last October killed 202 people, mainly young western tourists. The Aug 5 blast at the Jakarta hotel killed 12.
Hambali was among eight people indicted in the Philippines for the bombing of the Manila overhead railway that killed 22 people in 2000.
He is also said to have played a key role in directing bombings and attacks on priests and churches in Indonesia that killed 19 people in 2000. -- AFP, AP