JI chief training new terrorists

The Australian
Natalie O'Brien

A FORMER Australian-based leader of Jemaah Islamiah has been discovered on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, where the feared terrorist group runs military training camps for terror recruits.

Abdul Rahman Ayub - named as one of the JI chiefs who set up a chapter known as Mantiqi4 in Sydney before moving to Perth - is believed to have been training JI operatives on the island for at least the past year.

Terror expert Zachary Abuza said Ayub was one of 20 suspected JI members - included infamous bombmaker Dulmatin, who has a $US10 million ($13.5 million) bounty on his head - hiding out on Mindanao.

Dr Abuza said Ayub was likely to remain heavily involved in the terrorist organisation.

"They (Abdul Rahman Ayub and his twin brother, Abdul Rahim Ayub) are certainly radicals," he said. "And I have no doubt they have not thrown in the towel."

Ayub and his brother were named by convicted Perth-based terrorist Jack Roche as the dual heads of JI in Australia. They set up the JI chapter in Sydney before moving to Perth, where Abdul Rahim lived with his Australian wife and taught at an Islamic school in Thornlie.

Ayub was deported in 1999 after his application for refugee status was denied and Abdul Rahim left three days after the 2002 Bali bombings, which he is suspected of being involved in.

Neil Fergus, security expert and chief executive of Intelligent Risks, said his inquiries had also confirmed that Ayub was on Mindanao and involved in military-style training camps. Mr Fergus described Ayub as a very "dangerous" man and a committed "jihadist".

It is understood intelligence agencies tracked Ayub to Mindanao earlier this year by intercepting signals from his mobile phone.

It is also understood that Umar Patek, another senior JI operative who played a key role in the 2002 Bali bombings, is on a list of terror suspects, including Ayub and Dulmatin, who are being hunted by the Philippine authorities.

Anti-terror police are targeting Mindanao in their efforts to smash JI. Southeast Asian JI leader Azahari Bin Husin was killed last month in a shootout with Indonesian police but his bombmaking accomplice Noordin Mohammad Top escaped a police dragnet and remains on the run.

Eid Kabalan, a spokesman for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said that the authorities had been cracking down on suspects in the Mindanao region and there had been several military operations in recent months.

Mindanao is in the southern Philippines archipelago. Parts of the 95,000sq km island have become renowned as a place for terrorists to lie low and to conduct training camps.

Areas of the southern Philippines have hosted training camps for members of the terror group Abu Sayyaf as well as JI. Experts say the cross-training of the groups has been evident in the different bomb-making styles shown by Abu Sayyaf in recent times.

"The Philippines is a laboratory for JI," Dr Abuza said.

He added that the training camps in Mindanao could make JI more dangerous because it allowed them to keep going.

"It gives JI a new lease on life," he said.

Dr Abuza said it should not be forgotten that organisations such as JI had long time frames.

"We always forget that these organisations have a long-term strategy - they talk about a 30-year war," Dr Abuza said. "There is no face lost in people going underground in a strategic retreat."

Mr Fergus said there had been credible reports that up to 60 people had recently undertaken the advanced explosives training course in Mindanao.

"It has always been a critical spot for JI," Mr Fergus said.

"It is critical that the authorities concentrate on this because as long as the Philippines bases continue to operate, they can replenish human resources."