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Financial links between Jemaah Islamiyah and other terrorist groups, such as Abu Sayyaf and al-Qaeda, have been found to exist. Jemaah Islamiyah means "Islamic Group" or "Islamic Community" and is often abbreviated JI.
Jemaah Islamiya are suspected of having executed the Bali car bombing on October 12, 2002. In this attack, Jemaah Islamiyah suicide bombers killed 202 people and wounded many in a nightclubA nightclub (often dance club or club particularly in the UK) is an entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark. Nightclubs are always associated with music and have a dance floor, however small: a drinking establishment without music i. After this attack, The U.S. State DepartmentThe United States Department of State often referred to as the State Department is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. It is administered by the United States Secre designated Jemaah Islamiyah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Jemaah Islamiyah is also suspected of carrying out the Zamboanga bombingsThe Zamboanga bombings refer to the October 17, 2002 explosions of two bombs in the main shopping district of the mostly Christian city of Zamboanga in the southern Philippines, killing six and wounding about 150. It was the second major bomb attack in so, the Metro ManilaMetro Manila Kalakhang Maynila in Filipino), also simply called Manila outside the metropolis, is the metropolitan area that contains the City of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. The metropolis is officially called the National Capital Region (NCR bombings, and the 2004 Jakarta embassy bombingThe Jakarta embassy bombing took place on September 9, 2004 in Jakarta, Indonesia. A car bomb exploded outside the Australian embassy at Kuningan district, Central Jakarta, at about 10:30 local time (03:30 UTC), killing several people and wounding over 14.
JI was established as a loose confederation of several Islamic groups. Sometime around 1969For other uses, see Number 1969. For the movie, see 1969 (movie). Events January January 1 Australian media baron Rupert Murdoch purchases the largest selling British Sunday newspaper The News Of The World January 5 The Derry Riots leave over 100 people i, two men, Abu Bakar BashirAbu Bakar Bashir (also Abubakar Ba'asyir (born August 1938) is an Indonesian Muslim cleric who is the alleged spiritual head of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a militant Islamic separatist group. Intelligence agencies have pointed to his supposed links with al-Qa, and Abdullah Sungkar , began an operation to propagate the belief of Darul Islam , a conservative strain of Islam.
Darul Islam was almost exterminated back in the 1950s after members belonging to that sect instigated a rebellion in an effort to create an Islamic state in Southeast Asia.
Bashir and his friends created a pirated radio outfit to preach to the poor and oppressed in Indonesia. Bashir created a boarding school in Java. The school's motto was, "Death in the way of Allah is our highest aspiration."
Bashir was thrown in prison by Indonesian dictator Suharto's government as part of a crackdown and spent several years there.
He and his followers escaped to Malaysia in 1982. He recruited people from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines. The group officially named itself Jemaah Islamiyah around that time period.
The members of JI ranted and distributed pamphlets, but committed relatively few terrorist acts. Bashir preached jihad but he would do very little violent action. This changed in the 1990's.
Bashir met Riduan Isamuddin, a.k.a. Hambali sometime in the early 1990s at a religious school that Bashir set up. Bashir became the spiritual leader of the organization while Hambali became the military leader.
Hambali wanted a large Islamic caliphate to be established across Southeast Asia, incorporating Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei, and Cambodia. Such a state would have a population of about 420 million (using CIA World Factbook population counts). It would have a strangle-hold over the South China Sea shipping lanes which are a gateway between parts of Asia and the Indian Ocean. It would also have a significant air-space and would potentially affect trade between India, Africa, and Australia.
JI first formed itself into a group of terrorist cells that provided financial and logistical support when needed to Al-Qaida operations in Southeast Asia. Hambali formed a front company called Konsojaya to help launder money to such plots, including the Operation Bojinka plot, which was foiled on January 6, 1995.
The leaders of JI went back to Indonesia in 1998, when Suharto's government was toppled. Hambali went underground while Bashir openly preached jihad.
In 2000, Hambali ran a series of bombings of Christian churches. More attention went on the group after the Bali nightclub bombing. Another high profile attack was the bombing of the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta.
Bashir was arrested by the Indonesian police and was given a light sentence for treason.
Hambali was arrested in Thailand on August 11, 2003 and is currently in prison in Jordan, according to Haaretz.
A British-born Australian named Jack Roche confessed to being part of a JI plot to blow up the Israeli Embassy in Canberra, Australia on 28 May 2004. He was sentenced to 9 years in prison on 31 May. The man admitted to meeting figures like Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
JI are widely suspected of being responsible for the bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta on 8 Sep 2004 which killed 11 Indonesians and wounded over 160 more.