Radicals founded anti-U.S. Islamic boarding schools in Malaysia and Indonesia to promote jihad, authorities say. At the time, nothing seemed suspicious to Norhisam, a student at the Luqmanul Hakiem boarding school in this tiny village. Headmaster Mukhlas taught Arabic and led the students in prayer. His brother Amrozi studied religion. Traveling preacher Abu Bakar Bashir visited twice a month to meet with the teachers and pray with the students. What Norhisam didn’t see was another kind of school activity: the building of an anti-American terror network. Authorities say the boarding school, or pesantren, was the southern Malaysian outpost of Jemaah Islamiah, a regional terrorist group that is blamed for the deadly Oct. 12 bombings of two Bali nightclubs and dozens of other fatal attacks in Southeast Asia. Mukhlas, Amrozi and Bashir have been arrested in Indonesia and accused of playing key roles in the Bali attack, which killed 202 people. At least six more Bali suspects also have ties to the school, authorities say. Full Story
About OODA Analyst
OODA is comprised of a unique team of international experts capable of providing advanced intelligence and analysis, strategy and planning support, risk and threat management, training, decision support, crisis response, and security services to global corporations and governments.