Australian authorities believe two Indonesian pilots may pose a security threat after being radicalized by Islamic State, a leaked intelligence document obtained by an investigative Web site shows, although officials yesterday refused to confirm its veracity.
The Australian Federal Police Operational Intelligence Report, published online by investigative Web site The Intercept, said the pilots were “likely employees” of AirAsia and Premiair and came to their attention through their Facebook pages.
It said their postings “inferred support to the Islamic State [IS]” group.
“Upon review of the content from both accounts, it is assessed that these persons are likely being influenced by radical elements — at least from the online environment — and as a result, may pose a security threat,” it said.
In a statement, the federal police would not comment on whether the document, titled “Identification of Indonesian pilots with possible extremist persuasions” and dated March 18 this year, was genuine.
“The Australian Federal Police does not comment on matters of intelligence,” it said. “The Australian Federal Police maintains strong relationships with its domestic and foreign law enforcement partners to ensure the ongoing safety of Australians both within Australia and abroad.”
The AirAsia pilot graduated from its academy in 2010, the document said, and flew international routes, including to Hong Kong and Singapore.
It said a change in his Facebook posting style became evident in September last year, “wherein he started posting material indicative of support to IS.”
Around this time, he began interacting online with a second pilot, said to be a former Indonesian navy pilot who now works for Premiair, who “liked” his postings on IS.
This pilot had flown to Australia, Europe, the Middle East and the US, the report claimed, with recent reposts on Facebook including “extremist related articles.”
“Both appear to be influenced by pro-IS elements, including extremist online propaganda by well-known radical Indonesia outlets and a suspected Indonesian terrorist fighter who is likely to be in either Syria or Iraq,” the police report concluded.
The Intercept said it was distributed to law enforcement agencies in Turkey, Jordan, Britain, Europe and the US.
Indonesia’s government said it was still gathering information about the report.
“I haven’t got any information. Later, I will speak with the state intelligence agency, police and the national anti-terror agency,” Indonesian Minister of Security Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno told reporters.
Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir added: “We have heard this report from the papers. We have requested for more information from the security authorities.”
A spokeswoman for AirAsia’s Indonesian affiliate said the pilot mentioned in the document was no longer with the airline.
“Therefore we are unable to provide further comment on this matter,” she said.
Agence France-Presse was seeking comment from Premiair, a leading aviation services and aircraft management operator headquartered in Jakarta.
Tens of thousands of Filipino Catholics yesterday twirled white cloths and chanted “Viva, viva,” as a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ was paraded through the streets of Manila in the nation’s biggest annual religious event. The day-long procession began before dawn, with barefoot volunteers pulling the heavy carriage through narrow streets where the devout waited in hopes of touching the icon, believed to hold miraculous powers. Thousands of police were deployed to manage crowds that officials believe could number in the millions by the time the statue reaches its home in central Manila’s Quiapo church around midnight. More than 800 people had sought
DENIAL: Pyongyang said a South Korean drone filmed unspecified areas in a North Korean border town, but Seoul said it did not operate drones on the dates it cited North Korea’s military accused South Korea of flying drones across the border between the nations this week, yesterday warning that the South would face consequences for its “unpardonable hysteria.” Seoul quickly denied the accusation, but the development is likely to further dim prospects for its efforts to restore ties with Pyongyang. North Korean forces used special electronic warfare assets on Sunday to bring down a South Korean drone flying over North Korea’s border town. The drone was equipped with two cameras that filmed unspecified areas, the General Staff of the North Korean People’s Army said in a statement. South Korea infiltrated another drone
COMMUNIST ALIGNMENT: To Lam wants to combine party chief and state presidency roles, with the decision resting on the election of 200 new party delegates next week Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary To Lam is seeking to combine his party role with the state presidency, officials said, in a move that would align Vietnam’s political structure more closely to China’s, where President Xi Jinping (習近平) heads the party and state. Next week about 1,600 delegates are to gather in Hanoi to commence a week-long communist party congress, held every five years to select new leaders and set policy goals for the single-party state. Lam, 68, bade for both top positions at a party meeting last month, seeking initial party approval ahead of the congress, three people briefed by
Cambodia’s government on Wednesday said that it had arrested and extradited to China a tycoon who has been accused of running a huge online scam operation. The Cambodian Ministry of the Interior said that Prince Holding Group chairman Chen Zhi (陳志) and two other Chinese citizens were arrested and extradited on Tuesday at the request of Chinese authorities. Chen formerly had dual nationality, but his Cambodian citizenship was revoked last month, the ministry said. US prosecutors in October last year brought conspiracy charges against Chen, alleging that he had been the mastermind behind a multinational cyberfraud network, used his other businesses to launder
RSS