The terrorist group accused of the Bali bombing is believed to be moving money in South-East Asia and planning further attacks on Westerners in the region, warns a senior United States government official. Intelligence officials in Washington believe that up to 500 Jemaah Islamiah operatives could still be active in the region and preparing to target more tourist spots, especially in southern Thailand and Cambodia. However, Singaporean intelligence officials fear that shipping lanes and ports may be the target, with the possibility of a fuel tanker being hijacked and blown up in a port. The concerns about JI come as it was revealed that a suspect in Monday’s bombings in Saudi Arabia is the older brother of a former major operative for the group in South-East Asia. The Saudi Government has named one of the 19 suspects in the Riyadh attacks that killed 34 people as a Canadian-Kuwaiti, Abdulrahman Mansour Jabarah. His younger brother, Mohammed Mansour Jabarah, who distributed funds for bombings by JI cells, is in US custody after being arrested last year. An FBI report on his interrogation revealed that soon before his arrest he attended a meeting of senior JI figures in Thailand where it was decided to attack “soft targets” such as bars and clubs frequented by Westerners in South-East Asia. Full Story
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