Professionals, often from prestigious universities, use their knowledge and leadership to devastating effect. RADICAL Islamists have successfully lured medical doctors, engineers, lecturers and other middle-class, white-collar professionals into terrorist circles. An analysis of those arrested and still on the suspect list for terrorist activities in South-east Asia shows that some from the armed forces have also been won over by the militant cause. Although some of these professionals studied at prestigious universities in the west, they used their expertise not for national welfare, but to enhance the degree of destruction in possible attacks. They have also provided intellectual depth and leadership to terrorist networks. The extent of their influence is not yet known and is difficult to gauge but analysts agree that each such case can influence many more. Among the three arrested on June 10 for a Jemaah Islamiah (JI) plot to bomb embassies and tourist spots in Thailand was a medical doctor Waemahad Wae-dao. Full Story
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