JAKARTA, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Indonesian officials have begun leaking to the media their fears that thousands of Indonesian Muslim militants have infiltrated cities in Java and West Sumatra.
Two Indonesian intelligence officers speaking on condition of anonymity said that the militants had received training and combat experience in Afghanistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Libya.
Indonesian intelligence is attempting to ascertain if the militants have any direct links to the Jemaah Islamiyah network headed by Malaysians Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top.
Husin died on Nov. 9 in a shootout with Indonesian security forces in Batu Malang, East Java. The pair are suspected of involvement in the 2002 Bali blasts which killed at least 202 people the August 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing in Jakarta and the September 2004 bombing of the Australian embassy.
Husin and Top are also suspected of being behind the second Bali blasts in October, which left 23 dead, including three suicide bombers.
Husin received training in explosives in Afghanistan and allegedly authored the Jemaah Islamiyah bomb manual, which was used in the 2002 Bali blasts and other attacks.
Antara news agency reported that the chairman of Indonesia's Muhammadiyah organization recently stated that 3,000 former Afghanistan guerrillas had been recruited since 1980 to wage jihad in Africa. The two intelligence officers said that 5,000 Indonesian Muslim jihadists had trained abroad.
Washington is increasingly recognizing Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation, as an essential ally in the war on terror. On Wednesday Washington lifted its arms embargo on Indonesia, imposed in 1999 following Indonesian army excesses in East Timor.
