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Singapore warns of slumbering terror threat

"Trained in both religious studies and military and terrorist skills, these men were being groomed to be the next generation of leaders in the Jemaah Islamiah."

Wong Kan Seng, Singapore's minister of home affairs

The Southeast Asian militant network Jemaah Islamiah is training new leaders, and the region should expect more suicide attacks along the lines of the Bali bombings, Singapore's home affairs minister said.

Although much had been done to disrupt Jemaah Islamiah, minister Wong Kan Seng said the group was still recruiting and training terrorists and had the resources to carry out fresh attacks.

"Despite the significant setbacks Jemaah Islamiah has suffered over the last two years since its detection and exposure in Singapore in December 2001, the Jemaah Islamiah network continues to survive," the minister told a security conference in Hawaii on Thursday in a speech released in Singapore.

Authorities across Southeast Asia blame Jemaah Islamiah for bombings in the Philippines and Indonesia, including the devastating night club attacks on the resort island of Bali, which killed 202 people.

Singapore and Thailand have also arrested suspected members of the group, who they say were planning to attack western targets in both countries.

Wong said Singapore's current intelligence indicated that members of Jemaah Islamiah on the run, including master bomb-maker Azahari Husin, "are likely to plan more suicide bomb attacks along the lines of Bali..."

Recent arrests in Pakistan had also uncovered a group of Jemaah Islamiah members led by the brother of Muslim preacher Hambali, who is believed to have helped plot the Sept. 11 attacks in the US. The cell consisted of the sons of Jemaah Islamiah members in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.

"Trained in both religious studies and military and terrorist skills, these men were being groomed to be the next generation of leaders in the Jemaah Islamiah," he said.

Wong said Jemaah Islamiah's main training camp in Southeast Asia was the Camp Abu Baker Complex in Mindanao run by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), with smaller camps in the border regions of Pakistan and Kashmir also being used.

"The Jemaah Islamiah operates its own training camp called Camp Hudaybiyyah, which is protected by the MILF," Wong said.

Wong said that, in a worst-case scenario, graduates of the camps could end up in Iraq, gaining experience and building links with other radical groups.

The minister said the Singapore government was pushing for countries in the region to tighten border controls and to develop biometric passports to strengthen defences against terrorists.

It also supported the mobilization of a moderate Muslim elite to curtail the threat of more radical preachers in Islamic schools, but it said all governments must be prepared for when bombs do go off.
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