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Bali suspect's al Qaeda links
From Maria Ressa
MANILA, Philippines (CNN) -- An investigation by CNN, based on regional intelligence documents, has uncovered the links between Bali bomb suspect Amrozi, and terror groups Jemaah Islamiyah and al Qaeda. Among the key findings is that Amrozi's brother is the operational leader of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) in Indonesia, and that JI's alleged spiritual leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir was intimately involved in an earlier plot to assassinate Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri. Amrozi -- who is being held by Indonesian police -- has reportedly admitted involvement in the Bali nightclub bombings which killed more than 180 people, many of them Australian tourists, on October 12. The genesis of the Bali bombs can be traced back to an al Qaeda meeting held in Thailand early this year, according to a FBI document. The meeting was led by Riduan Isamuddin -- also known as Hambali -- who is the operational head of JI in Southeast Asia and whose wherabouts are unknown. "His plan was to conduct small bombings in bars, cafes or nightclubs frequented by Westerners in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia," the confidential FBI report says. Soon after that meeting, Hambali returned to Indonesia and, according to regional intelligence documents, told Faiz Bin Abu Bakar Bafana -- now in custody in Singapore -- that he, Hambali, would be replaced as an operational leader by a man named Muklas. Search for suspect's brothersThe document says, "Muklas would be appointed to replace him since his name had been mentioned in the mass media as a person wanted by the security agencies." Muklas, according to intelligence sources, is the brother of Amrozi, a self-taught mechanical engineer arrested by Indonesian police last week. Indonesian police say Amrozi, like his brother, fought in Afghanistan and travelled frequently to Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia. Police say they are searching for two of Amrozi's brothers in connection with the Bali attacks. (Brothers sought) The brothers are identified as Ali Imron and Ali Fauzi. Authorities say they are also looking for at least 10 suspects they believe are linked to the bombings, based on interviews with Amrozi. Dozens of homes in Amrozi's home village of Tenggulun village in East Java have been raided over the past few days. 'Rozi'In Malaysia, intelligence sources tell CNN Amrozi met with Fathur Roman Al-Ghozi, another JI member accused of multiple bombings in Indonesia and the Philippines. Al-Ghozi is now being held in a Philippines prison. Intelligence sources also tell CNN they believe Amrozi is the "Rozi" mentioned in a confidential document as someone who attended a meeting where a plot to assassinate Indonesia's President Megawati was discussed. The sources say the man who led that meeting is Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, acknowledged by more than half a dozen countries as JI's spiritual leader in the region. Ba'asyir was detained by Indonesian police last month in relation to a string of Christian church bombings in late 2000 and the Megawati plot, but he has not been charged in connection with the Bali blasts. Australia targetedFurther possible evidence of the al Qaeda connection to the Bali blasts is contained in a tape released Wednesday by the Al Jazeera TV network, purportedly of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. (Bin Laden praises attacks) In the tape, bin Laden singles out Australia and other U.S. allies as an enemy of Muslims and says al Qaeda had warned Australia over its involvement in East Timor and Afghanistan. "They ignored our warning, and they woke up to the sound of explosions in Bali, but the government pretended that they were not the target," the voice on the tape says. Earlier this month, a statement on a Web site linked to al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the October 12 Bali bombings. (Web admission) Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told CNN on Wednesday al Qaeda clearly had many links with like-minded terror organizations in Southeast Asia which had the shared objectives of killing Westerners and overthrowing moderate Islamic governments. "We have some people in Australia with links to al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah, there are people who have been in Afghanistan involved in training camps there," Downer said. MotivesDowner said there were also probably people with financial links to the terror groups, but that recent stronger legislation allowed Australian authorities to investigate these links more thoroughly. Australian security forces recently conducted a number of raids on homes of people suspected of having terrorist links and five people are now being detained by the Department of Immigration as a result. Police investigators say that although Amrozi was "unhappy" many Australians were killed in the Bali blasts instead of the group's main target -- Americans, he did not regret the deaths. "He thought many Americans were in Bali. When he knew many Australians died he was not happy. He doesn't regret it but he is just unhappy," a spokesman said. "If we ask Amrozi, he and his group wanted to kill as many Americans. If you asked why, he said the United States had attacked Iraq, Afghanistan and was unfair in the Palestine-Israel affair. That's the motive."
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