Reuters AlertNet Lite - FACTBOX-Jemaah Islamiah and its suspected top figures

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FACTBOX-Jemaah Islamiah and its suspected top figures

15 Jun 2007 09:50:35 GMT
Source: Reuters

(For related story click on [ID:nJAK252214]) JAKARTA, June 15 (Reuters) - Indonesia has captured the head of Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), police said on Friday, the latest blow for a group blamed for a string of bombings.

Here are five other figures who have been accused of having key roles in the shadowy network, which wants to establish an Islamic state across Southeast Asia.

* ABU BAKAR BASHIR:

-- Accused of co-founding JI with the late Abdullah Sungkar after they fled into exile in Malaysia in the early 1980s; Bashir is regarded as the group's spiritual leader. The bearded preacher of Yemeni descent led an Islamic Youth movement before setting up the so-called "heart of JI", the Al-Mukmin boarding school in Solo, Central Java, in the 1970s with Sungkar. Jailed for conspiracy in the 2002 Bali bombings, he was released in June 2006 and later cleared of wrongdoing.

* ABDULLAH SUNGKAR:

-- After he was alleged to have helped co-found JI, cleric Sungkar went to Afghanistan to participate in the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980s, laying the foundations for JI's links with al Qaeda. When Sungkar died in 1999, Bashir became the group's leader, some experts say.

* RIDUAN ISAMUDDIN, ALSO KNOWN AS HAMBALI:

-- One of a number of hardcore militants believed to have joined the group in Malaysia, Afghanistan-war veteran Hambali is seen as the main link between JI and al Qaeda and was dubbed "the Osama bin Laden of Southeast Asia". Accused of planning the 2002 bombings that killed more than 200 people in Bali, he was captured in 2003 and is now being held in Guantanamo Bay.

* NOORDIN M TOP:

-- Accused of masterminding a series of deadly bombings including the second Bali blasts in 2005 that killed more than 20 people, Malaysian-born Top is said to be JI's leading strategist. Police have often come close to capturing him.

* ABU DUJANA:

-- Indonesia's most-wanted man when he was captured in central Java in June 2007, Abu Dujana was wanted for bombings including the 2004 attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta. Police say Dujana headed a new JI military wing, called Sariyah or military company.

Sources: Reuters

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Last updated:Fri Jun 15 09:53:42 2007