Hambali calls a "wrong" number
Al Qaeda's man in Asia called a number that was being monitored.
"...Hambali was carrying a large amount of cash that came from confederates in Pakistan. In an attempt to avoid detection, he was using untraceable prepaid cellular telephone cards. It was the number he called in Indonesia that was being monitored."
"...Isamuddin is a charismatic and commanding figure who has controlled the flow of money from Al Qaeda to Southeast Asia, one senior Western intelligence official said. He described Isamuddin as Al Qaeda's point man in the region as well as the operational chief of the affiliated group, Jemaah Islamiyah."
Hambali had been asked to recruit pilots for another series of suicide attacks on airlines.
"...Hambali was seen as responsible for setting JI's general strategy, such as deciding last year to shift from "hard" targets, such as western embassies, to "soft" ones, including nightclubs in Bali and the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta. He was also the main link to al-Qaeda, which provided financial support and training to JI."
"...With Hambali's capture, all of JI's founders have been removed. 'I'm not sure whether there are any other people with this sort of history and authority who can take over,' he said.
"It remains to be seen whether the organisation will degenerate or whether it will become more unpredictable and violent."
Hambali took extreme measures to avoid detection.
"...The charismatic Indonesian preacher looked nothing like his widely circulated photographs when he was picked up by American and Thai officials, having shaved off his beard and undergone plastic surgery to alter his features. Hambali is believed to have entered Thailand from Laos last week, using a false Spanish passport. He headed for Ayutthaya, a city 50 miles north of Bangkok that is famous for its temple ruins, hoping to evade notice by mingling with the large Muslim community. He was arrested with his Malaysian wife, in a raid organised by the CIA on Monday but not announced until three days later."
"...Described by Mr Bush as 'one of the world's most lethal terrorists,' Hambali - the only non-Arab in Bin Laden's inner circle - returned to Indonesia after the fall of the dictator, Suharto, and became the link man between al-Qa'ida and Jemaah Islamiyah. His group, which was sometimes referred to as a 'branch office' of the parent group al-Qa'ida, is believed to have regularly received funds, training and weapons from al-Qa'ida.
"According to US officials, Sheikh Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the 11 September mastermind arrested in Pakistan in March, told interrogators he had given Hambali 'a huge amount of money to do something really big.' Another al-Qa'ida detainee reportedly said Hambali had tried to recruit pilots for more terrorist hijackings in the future. He is suspected of organising a strategic meeting in Malaysia in January 2000 where al-Qa'ida operatives planned the suicide attack on the destroyer USS Cole in Yemen. Two participants, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, who subsequently enrolled in an Arizona flight school, were aboard the hijacked plane that crashed into the Pentagon."
"...According to one report, he recently fled Malaysia, travelled by boat to Burma and then made his way overland into Thailand again. It was there that his luck finally ran out and he was tracked down and arrested - although the full details are unclear. As his former landlord in Malaysia said yesterday, quoting a Malay proverb: 'However good a squirrel is at jumping, it will eventually fall to the ground.'"
Al Qaeda's man in Asia called a number that was being monitored.
"...Hambali was carrying a large amount of cash that came from confederates in Pakistan. In an attempt to avoid detection, he was using untraceable prepaid cellular telephone cards. It was the number he called in Indonesia that was being monitored."
"...Isamuddin is a charismatic and commanding figure who has controlled the flow of money from Al Qaeda to Southeast Asia, one senior Western intelligence official said. He described Isamuddin as Al Qaeda's point man in the region as well as the operational chief of the affiliated group, Jemaah Islamiyah."
Hambali had been asked to recruit pilots for another series of suicide attacks on airlines.
"...Hambali was seen as responsible for setting JI's general strategy, such as deciding last year to shift from "hard" targets, such as western embassies, to "soft" ones, including nightclubs in Bali and the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta. He was also the main link to al-Qaeda, which provided financial support and training to JI."
"...With Hambali's capture, all of JI's founders have been removed. 'I'm not sure whether there are any other people with this sort of history and authority who can take over,' he said.
"It remains to be seen whether the organisation will degenerate or whether it will become more unpredictable and violent."
Hambali took extreme measures to avoid detection.
"...The charismatic Indonesian preacher looked nothing like his widely circulated photographs when he was picked up by American and Thai officials, having shaved off his beard and undergone plastic surgery to alter his features. Hambali is believed to have entered Thailand from Laos last week, using a false Spanish passport. He headed for Ayutthaya, a city 50 miles north of Bangkok that is famous for its temple ruins, hoping to evade notice by mingling with the large Muslim community. He was arrested with his Malaysian wife, in a raid organised by the CIA on Monday but not announced until three days later."
"...Described by Mr Bush as 'one of the world's most lethal terrorists,' Hambali - the only non-Arab in Bin Laden's inner circle - returned to Indonesia after the fall of the dictator, Suharto, and became the link man between al-Qa'ida and Jemaah Islamiyah. His group, which was sometimes referred to as a 'branch office' of the parent group al-Qa'ida, is believed to have regularly received funds, training and weapons from al-Qa'ida.
"According to US officials, Sheikh Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the 11 September mastermind arrested in Pakistan in March, told interrogators he had given Hambali 'a huge amount of money to do something really big.' Another al-Qa'ida detainee reportedly said Hambali had tried to recruit pilots for more terrorist hijackings in the future. He is suspected of organising a strategic meeting in Malaysia in January 2000 where al-Qa'ida operatives planned the suicide attack on the destroyer USS Cole in Yemen. Two participants, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, who subsequently enrolled in an Arizona flight school, were aboard the hijacked plane that crashed into the Pentagon."
"...According to one report, he recently fled Malaysia, travelled by boat to Burma and then made his way overland into Thailand again. It was there that his luck finally ran out and he was tracked down and arrested - although the full details are unclear. As his former landlord in Malaysia said yesterday, quoting a Malay proverb: 'However good a squirrel is at jumping, it will eventually fall to the ground.'"
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