Asia Security
Monitor
No. 48, September 25, 2003 AL-QAEDA FINANCIAL SUPPORT EVADES INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATORS;
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September 22: A new poll by the Jakarta Post shows that public support for Indonesia’s moderate President Megawati is at an unprecedented low, with 56 percent of Indonesians dissatisfied with the current government. The Washington Times warns of the prospects of a fundamentalist Islamic Government coming to power in the world’s most populous Muslim nation (240 million persons in an archipelago of 17,000 islands covering some 3,200 miles along the strategic Strait of Malacca). After 32 years of military rule, the electoral power of radicals, such as Indonesia’s current vice president Mamzah Haz, a rival to Megawati, could lead to a new anti-Western government, following Indonesia’s mid-2004 national election. September 25: Al-Qaeda and associated terrorist groups are increasingly using counterfeiting and credit card fraud as international policing is drying-up some of their traditional sources of finance, reports Reuters. The U.S. Treasury Department says nearly $200 million has been frozen since September 11, 2001. However, fund-raising by Islamic “charities” and widespread use of informal networks to transfer cash enables, “al-Qaeda to pursue its international campaigns.” In East Asia, authorities in the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore have all tightened counter-terrorism financial sector monitoring. However, the traditional hawala system, a trust-based informal money transfer method used throughout Asia, permits individuals to anonymously transfer up to $1,500 daily. In Indonesia, investigations following the Bali bombing show that most of the terrorist network left very few “paper trails” or records. Funds were mostly transferred hand-to-hand using cash, not only in Indonesian rupiahs, but also in Malaysian and US dollars. The United Nations General Assembly in New York became the verbal battlefield for India and Pakistan over the Kashmir region, reports the Agence France Presse and BBC News. In his floor speech before the General Assembly, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf accused India of pursuing a sustained arms buildup – including advanced aircraft, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, an aircraft carrier, nuclear submarines and an ABM system – that threatens to destabilize South Asia. Musharraf vowed to maintain an effective military deterrent to India. India is currently negotiating the purchase of three Phalcon AWACS radar systems from Israel, and is discussing the purchase of other military hardware. [Editor: The Indian government’s growing military ties with Israel could potentially inflame the large indigenous Muslim population inside of India, who previously have not been engaged in widespread militant activity or Kashmir-related campaigns.] On the other hand, India accused Pakistan of arming, training and funding militants and terrorists in Indian Kashmir. Pakistan contends that it only provides moral and diplomatic support to the international jihadi “freedom fighters” (who are conducting terrorism there). In separate meetings conducted in New York, President George W. Bush conveyed to Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee the need “to stop cross-border terrorism in Kashmir,” while vowing that the United States will “be there” to help Pakistan battle extremism. Separately, Indian Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani said he was disappointed that President Bush had not included India on the list of countries that have been victims of terrorism. Australia’s The Age reports that at the UN General Assembly, Indonesia’s President Megawati delivered an address that called for the West to rethink its war on terrorism, seemingly putting her at odds with both Washington and Canberra. Megawati asked the West to “renew their anti-terrorism policies, particularly in dealing with the Arab-Israeli conflict.” She also stated, that the Iraq war, “has created more problems than those it intended to solve.” Her comments undermined earlier remarks made by Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer calling for Indonesia to be considered for a seat on an expanded UN Security Council. |
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Copyright
© 2003, American Foreign Policy Council.
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