South East Asian terror

Nick Ridley works at Europol as an intelligence analyst in the Anti Terrorist Unit.

It was during the Mujahadeen’s protracted campaign against the Russians in Afghanistan that Al Qaeda developed its ten-volume encyclopedia on all aspects of guerilla warfare. Intensive training included tuition for selected operatives in fund raising, handling, storage and transfer as well as associated record-keeping and concealment. Further east, despite pressure from the post September 11 coalition, Indonesia, with a population of more than 200 million, the majority of whom are Muslim, initially appeared somewhat reluctant to take any form of high-profile action against extremists. As a result, those individuals and groups active in fund-raising, money movements, and procuring equipment for terrorist attacks tended to view the country as relatively low risk. This changed after the Bali bombing. Anti-terrorism legislation, which had remained in draft for some time, was transformed into two emergency decrees signed by Indonesia’s Premier. The powers included detention of suspects without trial for up to a year, the death penalty for terrorist acts, and the right of the authorities to access records of financial institutions during anti-terrorism inquiries, as well as suspicious activity reporting obligations.