THE MUSLIM CONFLICT IN PATANI – THAILAND,
INSURGENCIES OR TERRORIS
By
LTC DARU CAHYONO
1. Introduction
In Southeast Asia, Muslim constitutes a significant portion of the community. More than 243 millions out of about 581 millions of the total Southeast Asian population are Muslim. Although geographically Muslim communities concentrate in two countries Indonesia and Malaysia, there is Muslim Group in every Southeast countries including in Patani – Thailand, which, the situation of Muslim communities in Thailand will inevitably influence the political dynamics of the region.
2. Chronology of the Conflict.
Muslim in southern Thailand has a long communal history, dated back to the Kingdom of Pataki in the 15th century which reputations is often compared with Ache. Since the 18th century Patani was in conflict and eventually conquered by Siamese ( Thai ) Kingdom. However the Siamese at the time exercised a kind of protectorate over an intact Patani state. Therefore Patani cultural and religious identities were protected and guaranteed. This situation was sustained by the fact that state-borders were not so clearly defined in Southeast Asia in which Patani Muslim were still in close relationships with their Muslim fellows in neighboring Malay kingdoms.
The turning point was in 1909 when the Siamese kingdom made a border adjustment with the British colonial which ruled Malacca. The Siamese had to cede its Malay tributaries of Kelantan, Kedah, Trengganu and Perlis, while it retained Patani and Satun provinces. Since that time, Malay Patani Muslims had been trapped in the rong side of the border, separated from the other Malay – Muslin communities. The Muslim community in Patani become a minority group in the predominantly Buddhist state of Thailand
3. The networking Muslim Patani and Terrorism in Thailand.
In Patani Thailand, armed resistance against central government started 1945 when Muslim Leaders under the organization of GAMPAR ( which stand for Gabungan Melayu Patani Raga or League of Malay of Greater Patani) wrote a petition, led by Mahmud Mahyidin and haji Sulong, to the British colonial ruler in Malaya asking for help to Freed them from Thai occupation, but did not succeed.
Recently in the post 9/11 era Southern Thailand showed a heated escalation when several clashes occurred between Muslim Patani groups and the Thai military authority. A number of terrorist attacks against military as well as civil target have lured analyst to think of Al-Qaeda operating in the region. Heavy handed responses from the Thai government were also infamous, especially in October 2004 Tak Bhai tragedy when 78 Muslim Patani were suffocated to death after being arrested and put in trucks by the military.
Current America led war on terror once again drags Southeast Asian Muslims into the stream of global politics. Many annalists will agree that Southeast Asia has become a new arena of proxy war between America and Al-Qaeda. The story began at the Cold War Era, when many Southeast Asian Muslim were involved in a Jihad against Soviet invasion in Afghanistan, which was fully backed up by the US technically and militarily.Subsquenlty, alumnus of the Afgan war maintained their networks not only with their Southeast Asian fellows, but also with jihadis across the world from Sudan to Chechnya, to Indonesia.
4. Intra Security Dilemma.
In Shoutren Thailand, where the armed conflicts are much smaller in scale compared to the Philippines and Indonesia cases, the security dilemma also shadowed the conflict, especially with regard to the more recent phase of the conflict. After in dormant for quite a while, armed conflict in Southern Thailand broke again following the war on terror declared by the US against Al-Qaeda and its networks. The Tek Bhai incident in 2004, for instance, was another typical plot for an intra state security dilemma. The Thai government a close ally of the US in Southeast Asia, conducted security operation to tract band crack-down the existing Al-Qaeda network or operatives in the country that is, in predominantly Muslim provinces –which was perceived by Muslims as another package of oppressive policies against Muslims. There was, in
5. Conclusion.
In Southeast Asia, Muslim constitutes a significant portion of the community, in line with the development the armed conflicts among Muslim in Patani Thailand there is a difference perspective between Muslim as insurgence and Muslim as terrorist. The Thai government should improve the disadvantaged condition of the Muslim communities as the starting point to solve the conflicts
Prior September 11, 2001, many nations had no terminology defining terrorism as a crime. They criminalized the underlying acts such as murder, kidnapping, and willful destruction of property. Since September 11, a growing number of nations have created a specific criminal offense of terrorism. Many nations have also targeted terrorist organizations and persons who participate in them.
The response to international terrorism will be guided by the rule of law. Terrorists are now committing coordinated multiple, and devastating attacks, each of which cause civilian casualties of a scale previously seen only during armed conflict. In response to the increased danger posed by terrorists, nations have gone beyond the use of law enforcement efforts, and now are increasingly using military force to protect their societies. As terrorism poses a threat greater than ordinary crime, many nations are adjusting the balance between the rights of society and the rights of the individual.
U.S. Secretary of State Powell (2002) said : “Terrorists respect no limits, geographic or moral. The frontlines are everywhere and the stakes are high. Terrorism not only kills people. It also threatens democratic institutions, undermines economies, and destabilizes regions.”
Characteristics of Modern Terrorism
Terrorism typically displays certain fundamental characters:
1. Has some ideological or religious nature reflecting a person’s or a group’s conception of justice (earthly or divine),
2. has a predominantly non state character
3. deliberately targets innocents and civilians;
4. undertakes deliberately unpredictable and seemingly random acts of violence to maximize their psychological effect; and
5. openly disregards international norms and laws.
6. the targets generally are not the actual victims of the terrorist acts, but governments and publics among which it is hoped a particular reaction will be triggered (fear, repulsion, intimidation, overreaction, etc.).
7. The trends in modern terrorism were becoming apparent, including:
a. Increase in religiously motivated attacks.
b. Increase in the lethality and destructiveness of individual attacks
c. Increase in the geographic dispersion and international interconnectivity of attacks
d. Increase in the number of attacks targeting Western interests and symbols of globalization
e. Increased tendency toward expressive violence. .
f. Increased strategic alliance between criminal organizations that employ violence for economic motivations (such as drug cartels) and terrorist or guerrilla organizations that employ violence for political, ideological or religious purposes.
g. terrorist methodology has increasingly adopted the use of the new technologies and realities of globalization such as communication, transportation, cross border flows of people and commerce to enhance operations.
h. Merging of domestic and international terrorism and development of global terrorist networks and umbrella organizations providing training and support relationships between divergent groups.
Definitional Elements
Many terrorism definitions requires the conduct undertaken to instill terror, intimidate, coerce, or influence a population, government or group. Some of definition as follows :
1. U.S. Federal Criminal Code. Terrorism means activities that (i) involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any state, and (ii) appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion, or to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping.”
2. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Terrorism is the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.”
3. U.S. State Department Annual Reports on Terrorism. Terrorism means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents.”
4. United States Department of Defense. Terrorism is the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear, intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious or ideological.
Strategy
The U.S. National Strategy for Combating Terrorism:
1. The struggle against international terrorism is different from any other war in our history. We will not triumph solely or even primarily through military might. We must fight terrorist networks, and all those who support their efforts to spread fear around the world, using every instrument of national power- diplomatic, economic, law enforcement, financial, information, intelligence, and military.
2. Law enforcement will continue to be a primary means to combat international terrorism. Efforts to make law enforcement efforts more effective, both domestically and internationally, will continue.
———- || ———-
THE SHOE BOMBER
(Case Study)
On December 22, 2001, barely three months after the September 11 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., a passenger on board an American Airlines flight from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, France en route to Miami, Florida tried to ignite explosives hidden in his shoes. The plane was diverted to Boston, Massachusetts, and the passenger was taken into U.S. custody. The man, Richard Colvin Reid, was quickly dubbed the “Shoe Bomber.”
The Attempted Bombing of Flight 63
1. Richard Colvin Reid was born in 1973 in Bromley, a southeast suburb of London. Reid initially attempted to board American Airlines Flight 63 on Friday, December 21, 2001. That day was the thirteenth anniversary of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, but he was unsuccessful. French security personnel detained and questioned him. They reportedly had suspicions when Reid arrived for an international flight with an unkempt appearance and without any baggage, paid cash for his ticket, and presented a newly issued passport. Although he was eventually cleared to fly, the delay caused Reid to miss the flight. He stayed at a hotel that evening, and was re-booked on Flight 63 for the following day.
2. On December 22, Reid again arrived at the airport to board the same flight. This time, however, security personnel did not delay him. American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami, on a nearly full Boeing 767 aircraft, had 183 passengers and 14 crew members. Reid was seated in Seat 29J, a window seat behind the wing of the aircraft and in the middle of the passenger cabin. Reid had been assigned the adjacent aisle seat, Seat 29H; however, Reid arrived first and took the window seat. The passenger assigned to the window seat decided not to ask Reid to move.
3. While Flight 63 was over the North Atlantic and out of radio range to any land-based air traffic controllers, Reid commenced final execution of the bombing plot. When the passenger seated next to Reid went to use the restroom, Reid removed his shoes, each of which contained a sophisticated explosive device. Reid took his right shoe and pulled the end of a safety fuse through the inner sole and out of the shoe. He then attempted to ignite the safety fuse through the use of matches he had brought onto the aircraft. Reid lit approximately six matches in an effort to ignite the safety fuse, melting the end of the fuse in the process.
4. As Reid attempted to light the fuse, a flight attendant recognized the smell of a burning match. Upon investigation, she found Reid – who was 28 years old, about 220 pounds, and 6 feet 4 inches tall – with a lit match in his hand. When the attendant requested that Reid put the match out, he put it in his mouth. The attendant went to report the incident to other members of the crew, but soon returned to find Reid trying to light what looked to be a fuse protruding from a shoe he had between his legs.
5. A struggle occurred between Reid and the attendant for possession of the shoe. He shoved the attendant into the bulkhead and then onto the floor, and bit the hand of a second flight attendant who came to the scene. After the flight attendants called for help, passengers and other crew members subdued Reid by grabbing his arms and legs, tackling him, and threatening him with a fire extinguisher. They then restrained Reid in a seat using several of the passengers’ belts, seat-belt extenders and flexicuffs. Once Reid was subdued, doctors on board the aircraft administered drugs to tranquilize him during the remaining hours of flight, reportedly including the sedatives Valium and Narcan.
6. Reid’s shoes were eventually secured by members of the flight crew at the rear of the airplane. The crew searched Reid and found a British passport. When asked if he was French or British, Reid responded that he was Jamaican.
7. The aircraft was diverted to Boston and escorted there by two U.S. F-15 fighter jets.
In January 2003, Reid was sentenced for his crimes.
1. At the sentencing hearing, Reid spoke to the court: “I admit my actions and … I further state that I done them…. I further admit my allegiance to Osama bin Laden, to Islam, and to the religion of Allah.” Reid accused the U.S. of sponsoring the murder, rape, torture and oppression of millions of Muslims in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, Syria and Israel “for no reason except that they say we believe in Allah.” He declined to apologize for his actions and declared himself “at war” with the U.S.
2. The court sentenced Reid to life terms on three of the remaining eight counts, and to additional 20-year or 30-year periods for the other counts – all sentences to run consecutively. In addition, the court imposed a fine of $2 million.
Reid’s History
1. Richard Colvin Reid was born in 1973 in Bromley, a southeast suburb of London, to an English Catholic mother, Lesley, and a Jamaican Protestant father, Robin Reid. However, Reid’s parents divorced early, he spent time in foster homes, and Reid’s father was in prison for most of his childhood.
2. Reid turned to petty crime early in his life, dropping out of school at 16. Those crimes resulted in a string of convictions for relatively minor offenses such as street muggings and shoplifting, and Reid served sentences in a number of young offender institutions and prisons.
3. While in prison Reid converted to Islam, apparently at the suggestion of his father who had done the same in response to a life of violence, poverty and perceived racial discrimination.
4. After his release from prison, Reid began worshipping at the Brixton Mosque and Islamic Cultural Center in south London somewhere around late 1995 and assumed the name Abdel Rahim. (The Brixton Mosque was popular with many ex-convicts, and was also attended in the late 1990s by alleged September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.)
5. According to the chairman of the Brixton Mosque, Reid and Moussaoui followed a similar path. Like Moussaoui, Reid came under the influence of more extremist Muslim leaders who preached jihad against the West. One prominent cleric was Abu Hamza al-Masri, an influential Egyptian sheik who led a mosque in the Finsbury Park area of north London, part of London’s fundamentalist Islamic world often referred to as “Londonistan.”
6 Reid, Moussaoui and other European al Qaeda operatives – such as Djamel Beghal and Kamel Daoudi (on trial in Paris for plotting to blow up the U.S. embassy) and Nizar Trabelsi (a former professional soccer player also suspected in the Paris embassy plot but currently in prison in Belgium for plotting against a U.S. military installation) – are thought to have attended al Masri’s mosque.
7. After 1998, Reid returned to Brixton only occasionally to argue for the teaching of a more radical and less passive form of Islam. News reports and U.S. authorities contend that Reid’s contacts arranged for his travel to Pakistan and Afghanistan in or about 1998, and that at various times thereafter he received training at al Qaeda camps.
I don’t want to give my opinion in your topic, but I would like to say “Thank You” for visiting my blog. Now, your new blog is more artistic.. If you don’t mind you could join in Pusdiklat Bahasa Community. Just click in link on http://www.klampokidz.wordpress.com
Republic of India as the world’s largest democracy and second most populous country has emerged as a major power and the recent growth performance has been spectacular. Along with China and Vietnam, India remains one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Many reforms has been done and government policy has brought a lot of changing in the social life aspect, however, India is still tackling huge social, economic and security problems. The most dangerous and serious problems regarding national security is terrorist action.
If we compare with other countries, India remains one of the most terrorist affected countries. Terrorist, all over the world normaly has their own back ground and reason, why they become a terrorist. There are many groups in India uses terrorism to achieve its political or religious objectives focuses on specific local-oriented politico-economic-religious issues; and has to be tackled through specific and customised approaches that include the addressing of genuine grievances.
According the facts, terrorist in India divided into four big categories as follow:
1. State-sponsored and state-supported trans-border terrorist campaigns in J&K and the Northeast, namely; Pakistan-based terrorist groups JeM [Jaish-e-Mohammed], LeT [Lashkar-e-Toiba], Al-Badr, HM [Hizb-ul-Mujahideen], the Bangladesh-based Harkat ul-Jihad Islami (HuJI),
2. Disruptive influence of pan-Islamic extremist and terrorist outfits namely; the International Islamic Front (IIF), Moslem Mujahedeen India (MMI),
3. Activities of Maoist insurgent groups/ Left Wing Extremism (Maoism/Naxalism), such as; the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), erstwhile People’s War Group (PWG, or CPI-ML), known as People’s War or Communist Party of India-Maoist
4. Ethno-centric militancy, such as; United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) , the Karbi Longri North Cachar Liberation Front (KLNLF)
Indian Government pay full attention on terrorist action and according to figures available in the public domain, there was thousands of people has been died caused by insurgencies and terrorist violence. A lot of effort need to be conducted in order to reduce terrorist action all over India territories.
Since India realize that many terrorist came from neighboring countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Buthan, the government determined policy to establish fences along the border of Pakistan and India, to improve border security. Police, armed forces and intelligence had spread to sensitive and dangerous area like Assam, Jammu and Kasmir, along the border and several important or strategic places. To counter terrorist actions, Indian special forces and other agencies carried out some special operations, but bomb blast and killing incident still going on.
Other than the real action on the field, the Indian Government also conducted confidence-building measures (CBMs) to Pakistan and Bangladesh to reduce levels of violence in Jammu, Kashmir and Assam. Dialogues and negotiations with related parties to terrorism activities was done and some progress has been made at the negotiating table in defusing the militant threat. Another preventive action done by government is implementation of The India Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance 2001 outlines the procedures for dealing with terrorist acts and defines membership of Terrorist Organisations.
The Indian Government as other governments at one time or the other have negotiated with terrorists in spite of their avowed ‘never negotiate’ policy. Negotiation is the best solution to reach agreement between two or more parties, but special action must be taken to stop brutality and fatalities.
Daru Cahyono said,
February 16, 2009 at 3:53 pm
THE MUSLIM CONFLICT IN PATANI – THAILAND,
INSURGENCIES OR TERRORIS
By
LTC DARU CAHYONO
1. Introduction
In Southeast Asia, Muslim constitutes a significant portion of the community. More than 243 millions out of about 581 millions of the total Southeast Asian population are Muslim. Although geographically Muslim communities concentrate in two countries Indonesia and Malaysia, there is Muslim Group in every Southeast countries including in Patani – Thailand, which, the situation of Muslim communities in Thailand will inevitably influence the political dynamics of the region.
2. Chronology of the Conflict.
Muslim in southern Thailand has a long communal history, dated back to the Kingdom of Pataki in the 15th century which reputations is often compared with Ache. Since the 18th century Patani was in conflict and eventually conquered by Siamese ( Thai ) Kingdom. However the Siamese at the time exercised a kind of protectorate over an intact Patani state. Therefore Patani cultural and religious identities were protected and guaranteed. This situation was sustained by the fact that state-borders were not so clearly defined in Southeast Asia in which Patani Muslim were still in close relationships with their Muslim fellows in neighboring Malay kingdoms.
The turning point was in 1909 when the Siamese kingdom made a border adjustment with the British colonial which ruled Malacca. The Siamese had to cede its Malay tributaries of Kelantan, Kedah, Trengganu and Perlis, while it retained Patani and Satun provinces. Since that time, Malay Patani Muslims had been trapped in the rong side of the border, separated from the other Malay – Muslin communities. The Muslim community in Patani become a minority group in the predominantly Buddhist state of Thailand
3. The networking Muslim Patani and Terrorism in Thailand.
In Patani Thailand, armed resistance against central government started 1945 when Muslim Leaders under the organization of GAMPAR ( which stand for Gabungan Melayu Patani Raga or League of Malay of Greater Patani) wrote a petition, led by Mahmud Mahyidin and haji Sulong, to the British colonial ruler in Malaya asking for help to Freed them from Thai occupation, but did not succeed.
Recently in the post 9/11 era Southern Thailand showed a heated escalation when several clashes occurred between Muslim Patani groups and the Thai military authority. A number of terrorist attacks against military as well as civil target have lured analyst to think of Al-Qaeda operating in the region. Heavy handed responses from the Thai government were also infamous, especially in October 2004 Tak Bhai tragedy when 78 Muslim Patani were suffocated to death after being arrested and put in trucks by the military.
Current America led war on terror once again drags Southeast Asian Muslims into the stream of global politics. Many annalists will agree that Southeast Asia has become a new arena of proxy war between America and Al-Qaeda. The story began at the Cold War Era, when many Southeast Asian Muslim were involved in a Jihad against Soviet invasion in Afghanistan, which was fully backed up by the US technically and militarily.Subsquenlty, alumnus of the Afgan war maintained their networks not only with their Southeast Asian fellows, but also with jihadis across the world from Sudan to Chechnya, to Indonesia.
4. Intra Security Dilemma.
In Shoutren Thailand, where the armed conflicts are much smaller in scale compared to the Philippines and Indonesia cases, the security dilemma also shadowed the conflict, especially with regard to the more recent phase of the conflict. After in dormant for quite a while, armed conflict in Southern Thailand broke again following the war on terror declared by the US against Al-Qaeda and its networks. The Tek Bhai incident in 2004, for instance, was another typical plot for an intra state security dilemma. The Thai government a close ally of the US in Southeast Asia, conducted security operation to tract band crack-down the existing Al-Qaeda network or operatives in the country that is, in predominantly Muslim provinces –which was perceived by Muslims as another package of oppressive policies against Muslims. There was, in
5. Conclusion.
In Southeast Asia, Muslim constitutes a significant portion of the community, in line with the development the armed conflicts among Muslim in Patani Thailand there is a difference perspective between Muslim as insurgence and Muslim as terrorist. The Thai government should improve the disadvantaged condition of the Muslim communities as the starting point to solve the conflicts
Jakarta, 2009
INDONESIAN DEFENCE ATTACHE
LTC DARU CAHYONO
Col Anwar Saadi said,
February 16, 2009 at 3:56 pm
THE US NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR COMBATING TERRORISM
Introduction
Prior September 11, 2001, many nations had no terminology defining terrorism as a crime. They criminalized the underlying acts such as murder, kidnapping, and willful destruction of property. Since September 11, a growing number of nations have created a specific criminal offense of terrorism. Many nations have also targeted terrorist organizations and persons who participate in them.
The response to international terrorism will be guided by the rule of law. Terrorists are now committing coordinated multiple, and devastating attacks, each of which cause civilian casualties of a scale previously seen only during armed conflict. In response to the increased danger posed by terrorists, nations have gone beyond the use of law enforcement efforts, and now are increasingly using military force to protect their societies. As terrorism poses a threat greater than ordinary crime, many nations are adjusting the balance between the rights of society and the rights of the individual.
U.S. Secretary of State Powell (2002) said : “Terrorists respect no limits, geographic or moral. The frontlines are everywhere and the stakes are high. Terrorism not only kills people. It also threatens democratic institutions, undermines economies, and destabilizes regions.”
Characteristics of Modern Terrorism
Terrorism typically displays certain fundamental characters:
1. Has some ideological or religious nature reflecting a person’s or a group’s conception of justice (earthly or divine),
2. has a predominantly non state character
3. deliberately targets innocents and civilians;
4. undertakes deliberately unpredictable and seemingly random acts of violence to maximize their psychological effect; and
5. openly disregards international norms and laws.
6. the targets generally are not the actual victims of the terrorist acts, but governments and publics among which it is hoped a particular reaction will be triggered (fear, repulsion, intimidation, overreaction, etc.).
7. The trends in modern terrorism were becoming apparent, including:
a. Increase in religiously motivated attacks.
b. Increase in the lethality and destructiveness of individual attacks
c. Increase in the geographic dispersion and international interconnectivity of attacks
d. Increase in the number of attacks targeting Western interests and symbols of globalization
e. Increased tendency toward expressive violence. .
f. Increased strategic alliance between criminal organizations that employ violence for economic motivations (such as drug cartels) and terrorist or guerrilla organizations that employ violence for political, ideological or religious purposes.
g. terrorist methodology has increasingly adopted the use of the new technologies and realities of globalization such as communication, transportation, cross border flows of people and commerce to enhance operations.
h. Merging of domestic and international terrorism and development of global terrorist networks and umbrella organizations providing training and support relationships between divergent groups.
Definitional Elements
Many terrorism definitions requires the conduct undertaken to instill terror, intimidate, coerce, or influence a population, government or group. Some of definition as follows :
1. U.S. Federal Criminal Code. Terrorism means activities that (i) involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any state, and (ii) appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion, or to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping.”
2. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Terrorism is the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.”
3. U.S. State Department Annual Reports on Terrorism. Terrorism means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents.”
4. United States Department of Defense. Terrorism is the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear, intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious or ideological.
Strategy
The U.S. National Strategy for Combating Terrorism:
1. The struggle against international terrorism is different from any other war in our history. We will not triumph solely or even primarily through military might. We must fight terrorist networks, and all those who support their efforts to spread fear around the world, using every instrument of national power- diplomatic, economic, law enforcement, financial, information, intelligence, and military.
2. Law enforcement will continue to be a primary means to combat international terrorism. Efforts to make law enforcement efforts more effective, both domestically and internationally, will continue.
———- || ———-
THE SHOE BOMBER
(Case Study)
On December 22, 2001, barely three months after the September 11 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., a passenger on board an American Airlines flight from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, France en route to Miami, Florida tried to ignite explosives hidden in his shoes. The plane was diverted to Boston, Massachusetts, and the passenger was taken into U.S. custody. The man, Richard Colvin Reid, was quickly dubbed the “Shoe Bomber.”
The Attempted Bombing of Flight 63
1. Richard Colvin Reid was born in 1973 in Bromley, a southeast suburb of London. Reid initially attempted to board American Airlines Flight 63 on Friday, December 21, 2001. That day was the thirteenth anniversary of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, but he was unsuccessful. French security personnel detained and questioned him. They reportedly had suspicions when Reid arrived for an international flight with an unkempt appearance and without any baggage, paid cash for his ticket, and presented a newly issued passport. Although he was eventually cleared to fly, the delay caused Reid to miss the flight. He stayed at a hotel that evening, and was re-booked on Flight 63 for the following day.
2. On December 22, Reid again arrived at the airport to board the same flight. This time, however, security personnel did not delay him. American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami, on a nearly full Boeing 767 aircraft, had 183 passengers and 14 crew members. Reid was seated in Seat 29J, a window seat behind the wing of the aircraft and in the middle of the passenger cabin. Reid had been assigned the adjacent aisle seat, Seat 29H; however, Reid arrived first and took the window seat. The passenger assigned to the window seat decided not to ask Reid to move.
3. While Flight 63 was over the North Atlantic and out of radio range to any land-based air traffic controllers, Reid commenced final execution of the bombing plot. When the passenger seated next to Reid went to use the restroom, Reid removed his shoes, each of which contained a sophisticated explosive device. Reid took his right shoe and pulled the end of a safety fuse through the inner sole and out of the shoe. He then attempted to ignite the safety fuse through the use of matches he had brought onto the aircraft. Reid lit approximately six matches in an effort to ignite the safety fuse, melting the end of the fuse in the process.
4. As Reid attempted to light the fuse, a flight attendant recognized the smell of a burning match. Upon investigation, she found Reid – who was 28 years old, about 220 pounds, and 6 feet 4 inches tall – with a lit match in his hand. When the attendant requested that Reid put the match out, he put it in his mouth. The attendant went to report the incident to other members of the crew, but soon returned to find Reid trying to light what looked to be a fuse protruding from a shoe he had between his legs.
5. A struggle occurred between Reid and the attendant for possession of the shoe. He shoved the attendant into the bulkhead and then onto the floor, and bit the hand of a second flight attendant who came to the scene. After the flight attendants called for help, passengers and other crew members subdued Reid by grabbing his arms and legs, tackling him, and threatening him with a fire extinguisher. They then restrained Reid in a seat using several of the passengers’ belts, seat-belt extenders and flexicuffs. Once Reid was subdued, doctors on board the aircraft administered drugs to tranquilize him during the remaining hours of flight, reportedly including the sedatives Valium and Narcan.
6. Reid’s shoes were eventually secured by members of the flight crew at the rear of the airplane. The crew searched Reid and found a British passport. When asked if he was French or British, Reid responded that he was Jamaican.
7. The aircraft was diverted to Boston and escorted there by two U.S. F-15 fighter jets.
In January 2003, Reid was sentenced for his crimes.
1. At the sentencing hearing, Reid spoke to the court: “I admit my actions and … I further state that I done them…. I further admit my allegiance to Osama bin Laden, to Islam, and to the religion of Allah.” Reid accused the U.S. of sponsoring the murder, rape, torture and oppression of millions of Muslims in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, Syria and Israel “for no reason except that they say we believe in Allah.” He declined to apologize for his actions and declared himself “at war” with the U.S.
2. The court sentenced Reid to life terms on three of the remaining eight counts, and to additional 20-year or 30-year periods for the other counts – all sentences to run consecutively. In addition, the court imposed a fine of $2 million.
Reid’s History
1. Richard Colvin Reid was born in 1973 in Bromley, a southeast suburb of London, to an English Catholic mother, Lesley, and a Jamaican Protestant father, Robin Reid. However, Reid’s parents divorced early, he spent time in foster homes, and Reid’s father was in prison for most of his childhood.
2. Reid turned to petty crime early in his life, dropping out of school at 16. Those crimes resulted in a string of convictions for relatively minor offenses such as street muggings and shoplifting, and Reid served sentences in a number of young offender institutions and prisons.
3. While in prison Reid converted to Islam, apparently at the suggestion of his father who had done the same in response to a life of violence, poverty and perceived racial discrimination.
4. After his release from prison, Reid began worshipping at the Brixton Mosque and Islamic Cultural Center in south London somewhere around late 1995 and assumed the name Abdel Rahim. (The Brixton Mosque was popular with many ex-convicts, and was also attended in the late 1990s by alleged September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.)
5. According to the chairman of the Brixton Mosque, Reid and Moussaoui followed a similar path. Like Moussaoui, Reid came under the influence of more extremist Muslim leaders who preached jihad against the West. One prominent cleric was Abu Hamza al-Masri, an influential Egyptian sheik who led a mosque in the Finsbury Park area of north London, part of London’s fundamentalist Islamic world often referred to as “Londonistan.”
6 Reid, Moussaoui and other European al Qaeda operatives – such as Djamel Beghal and Kamel Daoudi (on trial in Paris for plotting to blow up the U.S. embassy) and Nizar Trabelsi (a former professional soccer player also suspected in the Paris embassy plot but currently in prison in Belgium for plotting against a U.S. military installation) – are thought to have attended al Masri’s mosque.
7. After 1998, Reid returned to Brixton only occasionally to argue for the teaching of a more radical and less passive form of Islam. News reports and U.S. authorities contend that Reid’s contacts arranged for his travel to Pakistan and Afghanistan in or about 1998, and that at various times thereafter he received training at al Qaeda camps.
———- || ———-
klampokidz said,
February 19, 2009 at 6:26 pm
I don’t want to give my opinion in your topic, but I would like to say “Thank You” for visiting my blog. Now, your new blog is more artistic.. If you don’t mind you could join in Pusdiklat Bahasa Community. Just click in link on http://www.klampokidz.wordpress.com
Putu Suardika said,
March 9, 2009 at 9:26 am
TERRORISM IN INDIA
AND THE GOVERNMENT POLICY
Republic of India as the world’s largest democracy and second most populous country has emerged as a major power and the recent growth performance has been spectacular. Along with China and Vietnam, India remains one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Many reforms has been done and government policy has brought a lot of changing in the social life aspect, however, India is still tackling huge social, economic and security problems. The most dangerous and serious problems regarding national security is terrorist action.
If we compare with other countries, India remains one of the most terrorist affected countries. Terrorist, all over the world normaly has their own back ground and reason, why they become a terrorist. There are many groups in India uses terrorism to achieve its political or religious objectives focuses on specific local-oriented politico-economic-religious issues; and has to be tackled through specific and customised approaches that include the addressing of genuine grievances.
According the facts, terrorist in India divided into four big categories as follow:
1. State-sponsored and state-supported trans-border terrorist campaigns in J&K and the Northeast, namely; Pakistan-based terrorist groups JeM [Jaish-e-Mohammed], LeT [Lashkar-e-Toiba], Al-Badr, HM [Hizb-ul-Mujahideen], the Bangladesh-based Harkat ul-Jihad Islami (HuJI),
2. Disruptive influence of pan-Islamic extremist and terrorist outfits namely; the International Islamic Front (IIF), Moslem Mujahedeen India (MMI),
3. Activities of Maoist insurgent groups/ Left Wing Extremism (Maoism/Naxalism), such as; the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), erstwhile People’s War Group (PWG, or CPI-ML), known as People’s War or Communist Party of India-Maoist
4. Ethno-centric militancy, such as; United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) , the Karbi Longri North Cachar Liberation Front (KLNLF)
Indian Government pay full attention on terrorist action and according to figures available in the public domain, there was thousands of people has been died caused by insurgencies and terrorist violence. A lot of effort need to be conducted in order to reduce terrorist action all over India territories.
Since India realize that many terrorist came from neighboring countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Buthan, the government determined policy to establish fences along the border of Pakistan and India, to improve border security. Police, armed forces and intelligence had spread to sensitive and dangerous area like Assam, Jammu and Kasmir, along the border and several important or strategic places. To counter terrorist actions, Indian special forces and other agencies carried out some special operations, but bomb blast and killing incident still going on.
Other than the real action on the field, the Indian Government also conducted confidence-building measures (CBMs) to Pakistan and Bangladesh to reduce levels of violence in Jammu, Kashmir and Assam. Dialogues and negotiations with related parties to terrorism activities was done and some progress has been made at the negotiating table in defusing the militant threat. Another preventive action done by government is implementation of The India Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance 2001 outlines the procedures for dealing with terrorist acts and defines membership of Terrorist Organisations.
The Indian Government as other governments at one time or the other have negotiated with terrorists in spite of their avowed ‘never negotiate’ policy. Negotiation is the best solution to reach agreement between two or more parties, but special action must be taken to stop brutality and fatalities.
Written by col (navy) Putu Angga