Jemaah Islamiah, Al-Qaeda Cells in Southeast Asia

Jemaah Islamiah (JI) is a Southeast Asian militant Islamic organization dedicated to the establishment of a Daulah Islamiyah (Islamic State under Sharia law) in Southeast Asia. According to western media and so called intelligence reports of the US Govt it has ties with Al-Qaeda. Its leader, Abu Bakar Bashir, is very well respected in his country, Indonesia. He is an Indonesian Muslim cleric and leader of the Indonesian Mujahedeen Council (MMI). He also runs the Al-Mukmin boarding school in Ngruki, Central Java. He was a suspect in Bali bombing of the night club case but he claims to believe that Jemaah Islamiah doesn't exist and that the CIA and Israel were behind terror attacks in Indonesia including the 2002 Bali bombings.

Jemaah Islamiah which literally means 'community of Muslims' is doing religious as well as social work for the common man and the leader is highly educated in religious affairs. The network developed in this time through family, education and business connections. Jemaah Islamiah also depends on a small circle of pesantrens - Muslim boarding schools - to propagate jihadist teachings. Some 20 to 30 pesantrens in Indonesia are believed to subscribe to Bashir's teachings, Ngruki being foremost among them. The schools' physical education program includes weapons recognition and some military training. The children whose parents can not afford to send them to school get free schooling with, often, lodging and boarding in their pesantren.

With the arrest of Ali Ghufron and Imam Samudra, in connection with the Bali bombings, the link between Al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya became visible for the first time. In Ali Ghufron' testimony he admits to meeting Bin Laden in Afghanistan during the late 1980's. He also explains that himself and other leaders of Jemaah Islamiah worked diligently to strengthen and nurture their ties to Al-Qaeda. Jemaah Islamiah operates across Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Thailand. In the late '90s through the middle of 2001, JI engaged in several terrorist acts, such as the bombing of the Philippine ambassador in Indonesia (August 2000); a spate of church bombings across the Indonesian archipelago in late 2000; and a series of bombings in Manila in December 2000. JI members were recruited and trained in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and the southern Philippines. The recruits trained in everything from explosives to sharp-shooting.

Funds for such organizations are generated from the contributions by the devotees or the followers and also robbery of non-Muslims to support Islamic struggle. But, Jemaah Islamiah survived mainly because of foreign funds. The Jemaah Islamiah receives money and logistic assistance from Middle Eastern and South Asian contacts. Al Qaida is identified as a major fundraiser for Jemaah Islamiah. Today, Jemaah Islamiah is weakened by arrests and as such has not carried a major terrorist attack.