Funding Terrorism in Southeast Asia: The Financial Network of Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya‪.‬

Introduction The war on terror has continued apace in Southeast Asia, and the governments in the region deserve credit for the arrests of some 150 Jemaah Islamiya (JI) members through April 2003. Several of the members of JI's regional shura (council) were arrested, including Mohammed Iqbal Rahman (Abu Jibril), Agus Dwikarna, and Faiz bin Abu Bakar Bafana. These arrests were significant, especially as the JI is not a large organization, with probably no more than 500 members. The fact that they are now focusing on soft targets such as tourist venues rather than hard, though symbolic, targets may indicate institutional weaknesses, the result of 20 mouths of intensive investigations and arrests. They are less able to plan and execute terrorist attacks than they were a year ago, though they still maintain their capacity to attack soft targets. That said, one would be foolish to underestimate JI's capabilities or goals. As many of the key operatives are still at large, the organization retains the capacity and will to launch devastating attacks throughout the region.