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A tragic year for Southeast Asia
From Stan Grant
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Bali, October 12, 2002. A place. A date. A bomb. Like another place, another date: New York, September 11, 2001, a tragic memory that will haunt a generation. Bali had been so safe, so friendly, so beautiful. Now many associate the holiday resort with terror. "Bali is the worst terrorist attack since 9/11... and until Bali occurred there were many government denials that there was a significant terrorist network operating in Southeast Asia," says Rohan Gunaratna, the author of a book on al Qaeda. "So Bali was pivotal in shaping the response in Southeast Asian governments towards fighting terrorism." Almost 200 people were killed when a bomb ripped through a crowded bar. Australia had the highest death toll -- 88 in all. The nation mourned those lost and asked why. That question had many answers. Who? That was easier. Within days investigators found the fingerprints of al Qaeda and its supporters. And then there was a chilling message, thought to be the voice of Osama bin Laden. And the warning could not be more clear. The footsteps of Bali could be traced from New York, September 11. Intelligence agencies uncovered a terror network in Southeast Asia. Jemaah IslamiyahNames like Hambali, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, and Mukhlus before unknown, are now all too familiar. These are the men intelligence agencies have identified as bin Laden's lieutenants. Ba'asyir's Jemaah Islamiyah has been linked directly to the Bali bombing. "Hambali, who is the operational commander of JI, is also serving on the shura council of the consultative council of al Qaeda," Gunaratna says. "Ba'asyir of course has been a strong supporter of Osama bin Laden over many years and we can very clearly say that Ba'asyir is the spiritual, political and ideological leader of JI which is an associate group of al Qaeda or Southeast Asian arm of al Qaeda." There are also other groups linked to the terror network. Between December 2001 and October this year 22 people were arrested in Malaysia, 36 in Singapore and nine in the Philippines as part of a sweep on al Qaeda operatives across the region. Despite the evidence, the Bali bombings and the arrests, Gunaratna, says many governments and intelligence authorities refuse to acknowledge the problem. "It will take more effort, more perseverance and more join work by governments in this region if we are to disrupt, degrade and destroy the terrorist groups, network that is active in Southeast Asia and that is linked to al Qaeda," says Gunaratna. There have been threats and attacks elsewhere in countries such as the Philippines, which brought in U.S. troops to help stamp out it's militant group Abu Sayyaf. That fight continues. UnrestMark Michaelson an Asia political analyst, says turning to the U.S for help is creating new unrest. "In a couple of places, Indonesia and the Philippines, where governments have internal political issues obviously this sort of situation makes it weaker. At the same time economically the U.S. is an important trading partner virtually to everyone of the countries in Southeast Asia, so that has to be maintained to stimulate the economy," says Michaelson. Since Bali Australia has grown suspicious and nervous. Prime Minister John Howard risked alienating his Southeast Asian neighbors when he threatened to go it alone. If a terror threat was uncovered he said Australia would act with everything in its capacity to destroy it. Howard's comments were interpreted as U.S. style unilateralism and leaders such as Malaysia's Mahathir Mohammad reacted angrily. In Bali the once thriving tourism industry is gutted and elsewhere the political and social harmony and the fragile economies of Southeast Asia remain vulnerable to the next shock. "If there is a war in the Middle East, how quickly that goes and what the results are, particularly what the aftermath is and how that affects some of the groups within the country -- they have to be prepared for contingencies and in many cases will have to seek assistance not only militarily but also advisory assistance outside the region," warns Michaelson. As the Bali bombings marked 2002, its aftermath casts its shadow over 2003.
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