EAST TIMOR

In 1998 Lieutenant-Colonel Lance Collins was asked to examine the state of East Timor and submit a high level intelligence estimate. A high level intelligence estimate goes way beyond normal intelligence analysis, by examining the whole picture of historical information and recent events to predict what intentions and plans an adversary may be making. He finished his report in July 1998 and it had three major findings. Firstly, that East Timor would continue to push for independence. Secondly, the Indonesian military would violently oppose any moves to independence. And finally, Lance Collins said Australia may be called upon to provide a UN peacekeeping force. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/bbing/stories/s1121412.htm

After the high level intelligence estimate was submitted, Australian Prime Minister John Howard wrote a letter to then Indonesian President BJ Habibie. In that letter John Howard was in full support of Indonesia maintaining its occupation of East Timor. Here’s a reading of part of that letter.

My dear President, … I want to emphasise that Australia’s support for Indonesia’s sovereignty is unchanged. It has been a long-standing Australian position that the interests of Australia, Indonesia and East Timor are best served by East Timor remaining part of Indonesia. … It might be worth considering a means of addressing the East Timorese desire for an act of self-determination in a manner that avoids an early and final decision on the future status of the province. … [This] would allow time to convince the East Timorese of the benefits of autonomy within the Indonesian republic. December 1998 http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/bbing/stories/s1121412.htm

Australian intelligence agencies reported that the Indonesian military was coordinating violence against East Timorese independence supporters from the very beginning.

The Australian Department of Intelligence reported as early as January 1999 that militia violence in East Timor was controlled by the Indonesian military. http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s68239.htm

The Sydney Morning Herald attained leaked Australian classified intelligence of Indonesian military intercepts from February 1999. Sydney Morning Herald March 14, 2002 Australia's bloody East Timor secret Spy intercepts confirm Government knew of Jakarta's hand in massacres By Hamish McDonald, International Editor

Contrary to John Howard’s claims, the Australian government argued against peacekeeping forces, despite full knowledge of Indonesian military black operations.

The Bulletin magazine attained confidential cables, exposing that the government had argued against peacekeeping forces as early as February 1999. http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/stories/s57182.htm

Australian defense intelligence reported in March that the Indonesian military was coordinating militia violence in East Timor. The intelligence reports were cited in the Australian Senate. Mr Kevin—Yes. Most of them appeared in the Bulletin article on 12 October headed, ‘The Timor cables: what the government knew, what we did not’, but many of them had already previously been reported. Mr Brereton, for example, was quoting from them in the parliamentary debate on 21 September. But there was a Defense Intelligence Organization report as early as 4 March that said: A DIO classified intelligence brief to Ministers reported that The Indonesian Military were arming and organising militia intimidation. http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/commttee/s931.pdf

Days later the Howard cabinet continued to conceal the fact that the Indonesian military was responsible for orchestrating militia violence.

7 March 1999: Downer Interview with Laurie Oakes on the Sunday Program. it certainly isn’t something that’s been condoned by General Wiranto, the head of the armed forces. But there may be some rogue elements within the armed forces who are providing arms http://members.pcug.org.au/~wildwood/01julselective.htm

Not only did intelligence briefs inform ministers that the Indonesian military was arming the militia, the Indonesian government actually admitted as much to the Australian foreign minister, Alexander Downer.

The leaked confidential cables revealed conversations between Alexander Downer and the Indonesian foreign minister, Ali Alatas.

MEETING 23rd FEBRUARY 1999 JOHN LYONS: At that meeting Alexander Downer raised the issue of the military, the TNI, providing arms to militia groups. He said, "This is the legitimate arming of auxiliaries," so the Indonesian Foreign Minister was saying the arming of the militia was legitimate.

7 march 1999 ALEXANDER DOWNER, FOREIGN MINISTER: The Indonesian Government, when we've raised it with them, including when I raised it with Ali Alatas the other day, have said that it certainly wasn't happening, that they weren't arming paramilitaries. http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/stories/s57182.htm

On the 6th April, the military and militia set fire to local villages and 100’s of civilians were forced to seek shelter in Liquica church.

The refugees were then systematically massacred inside the church by the militia and military squads, hacked to death by machetes or executed by firearm. The victims were then loaded on to trucks and disposed of.

On the 12th of April the Military abducted six people, including primary school teachers, who were suspected of being pro-independence sympathizers.

The six were taken to Kailako Military Rayon Command where they were detained, interrogated and tortured.

The next day at around 0600 am, they were taken and executed in front of mourners from previous murders. According to witnesses' statements military leaders threatened the mourners announcing that anyone who opposed the Army or the government of Indonesia would meet the same fate. Witnesses http://www.asia-pacific-action.org/southeastasia/easttimor/reports/komnasham_1999hamviolations_310100.htm

Mr Downer, in his press conference on 4 September, told journalists: We have played an enormous role in making what has happened over the last few weeks possible, an enormous role ... I think we have calibrated this pretty much right all along. In that instance, ‘we’ is Australia. http://wopared.aph.gov.au/Hansard/senate/commttee/s931.pdf

In one city, Maliana, Dili, peacekeeping forces encouraged men women and children to seek refuge in the police barracks where they would be later slaughtered by the military and the militia. The victims were then taken away in pickup trucks. http://www.asia-pacific-action.org/southeastasia/easttimor/reports/komnasham_1999hamviolations_310100.htm

The Australian government claimed that they had no information forecasting post ballot violence; however the office of national assessments was reporting that all Australian intelligence agencies were predicting the potential for large scale violence after the ballot. http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/commttee/s931.pdf Intelligence officer, Captain Andrew Plunkett, spoke out about the government’s prior knowledge. http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/stories/s293269.htm

After the Government failed to inform peacekeepers of expected violence, Australian defense personnel were ordered to cover up the massacres. While the official death toll from the Maliana police barracks massacre is 47, Captain Andrew Plunkett estimates it was closer to 200. http://news.sbs.com.au/dateline/index.php?page=archive&daysum=2001-05-16#

Leaked Defense intelligence documents echoed Plunketts concerns. http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s67863.htm

Howard’s cabinet was furious over leaked intelligence, which exposed their lies, their prior knowledge of military involvement, their policy of opposing peacekeepers, and finally their participation in covering up post ballot massacres. The Federal Police launched a dragnet investigation covering a range of Defence Force personnel, government officials and media outlets. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/bbing/stories/s1121412.htm

SBS REPORTER: So is Australia holding information today that could lead to the conviction of Indonesian Army figures? CAPTAIN ANDREW PLUNKETT: Definitely. SEE NO EVIL : DATELINE http://news.sbs.com.au/dateline/index.php?page=archive&daysum=2001-05-16#

General Wiranto, Commander of the Indonesian Military, who was directly linked to the militia in leaked Australian Intelligence documents, escaped trial. By April 19, both ASIS and DSD have directly linked Wiranto with the militia. http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/commttee/s931.pdf

FALSEFLAG OPERATIONS

BALI BOMBINGS

TRACEY GOLOTTA: And we looked out our window and we could see all the smoke coming up into the air. And it was like what you saw when they showed the Hiroshima ones with the...just the mushroom cloud come up. And that's what we could see. http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2003/transcripts/s946351.htm

The Network – 4 corners MAN 1: This is horrendous. I've never seen anything like it. People are burnt everywhere. Everything has gone, the whole street. http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/s713135.htm

Witnesses contradicted the Australian Federal Police’s obscure suicide bomber theory. Patty’s bar staff said that they… Nattallia Sinclaire, wife of the owner of Paddy's, said a local member of staff had seen a man walk into the club and throw a plastic bag full of explosives. The woman, who was treated in the burns unit of the local hospital, said: "I will never forget his face as long as I live." Investigators chose to ignore this testimony. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/19/1034561354185.html

“the crime scene was spread over half a kilometer” mick kelty 18 nov 2002 http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2002/s729527.htm

The force of the blast completely levelled the Sari club in seconds. Anything in direct contact of the main blast wave was completely destroyed. Mick Keelty revealed that surrounding vehicles were blown 30 metres down the street. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/10/21/1034561444770.html

The main explosive instantly ignited cars and buildings within a 2-400 metre radius. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/14/1034222684262.html

Windows were shattered over 600 metres from ground zero. The main blast cracked the walls of buildings several kilometres from ground zero. (Damage from distance) Debris was hurled further a field. Cars and moped taxis burst into flames. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/14/1034222684262.html

An international team of Australian Federal Police, FBI, UK special agents, and forensic scientists started arriving in Bali within 24 hours of the blasts. http://www.afp.gov.au/international/operations/previous_operations/bali_bombings_2002

The Indonesian public was outraged that foreign officials were investigating an Indonesian crime scene. http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1139392002

10 days after the bombing, the international team of investigators with unlimited resources at their disposal announced… that they were wrapping up their on-site work and retreating to the labs to analyze their findings. http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20030103.D06

Wrecking balls were brought in to excavate the crater contents and other debrit which was then… dumped into the sea off Benoa harbour in southern Bali. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/10/21/1034561449138.html

Immediately after the bombings, the Indonesian police announced that the FBI had discovered the plastic explosives, semtex and C4. The Scotsman reported that the… INDONESIAN investigators searching for links between the Bali nightclub attack and the al-Qaeda network were last night interrogating two men after an FBI forensic team found traces of sophisticated plastic explosives at the site of the bombing. Experts claimed they discovered traces of Semtex at the Sari Club http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1143382002

The Age newspaper published an article a few days after the bombing entitled… Two questioned: C4 explosives found October 16 2002 Indonesia's national police chief, General Da'i Bachtiar, also said that an explosive known as C-4 had been identified from preliminary investigations. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/10/16/1034561163876.html

One week later, investigators announced that the main explosive device was an Ammonium Nitrate bomb. The Australian Federal Police said that the bomb is now believed to have been built with ammonium nitrate fertiliser. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/10/20/1034561389875.html

BRETT SWAN: Preliminary analysis of the possible explosive used in a vehicle in front of the Sari Club is a low velocity explosive, possibly ammonium nitrate mix and the experts believe it may have been somewhere between a hundred and a hundred and fifty kilos. http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s707433.htm

Amazingly, the following month, ammonium nitrate evolved into a new chemical. BEN MCDEVITT: The bomb data specialists who are looking at it at the moment are starting to firm in on a conclusion which is tending towards chlorate as being the substantial ingredient. http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s722478.htm

Indonesian explosive expert, Colonel Zainuri Lubis, may have hinted at the absurdity of investigations saying that the main explosive was made out of Chlorate, black powder and TNT. TRANSLATION OF POLICEMAN: Chlorate, black powder and TNT. http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2003/transcripts/s780910.htm

As an explosive expert, Colonel Lubis knows that chlorate crystals cannot be mixed with black powder. Mixing these compounds would cause an immediate chemical reaction. The sharp chlorate crystals would create immense friction across the surface of the black powder particles, which would then react immediately by either burning furiously or exploding. http://www.vialls.com/nuke/bali_micro_nuke.htm

Alleged discoveries of C4 and semtex were forgotten but they appeared to serve a purpose. ELEANOR HALL: So the police have confirmed C-4, where does that part of the investigation go now? PETER CAVE: Well, the C-4 tends to point a finger in certain directions. The Al Qaeda group has used C-4 in a number of its attacks. It was used in the bombing of the USS Cole, it was used in a bombing in the Philippines, and a number of other bombing related to Al Qaeda. It seems to point towards them. http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/stories/s702879.htm

In November Investigators arrested Ali Amrozi, the owner of the Mitsubishi van allegedly carrying the main explosive device. Ali Amrozi, an illiterate mechanic, confessed to preparing the fertilizer chemicals delivered in the Mitsubishi van. Investigators claimed they tracked Amrozi by reconstructing fragments of the van, obtaining the Vehicle Identification Number stamped on the van’s axle. http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2003/transcripts/s780910.htm

Amrozi maintained that, quote… "If the explosion was truly from the chemicals that I prepared, it would not produce such a powerful explosion" he said. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/07/14/1058034940815.html

Captain Rodney Cocks "I've done demolitions courses with the Army and it was bigger than anything I've ever blown up in my time, and I've done a bit." http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/03/107756.php

Investigators claimed Amrozi loaded the van with 3-400kg of chlorate. http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s732944.htm

The following year, the Australian Federal Police committed to a Potassium chlorate bomb. http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2003/s774228.htm

Jakarta Post’s Senior Editor Robert S. Finnegan published this piece on January 3rd, 2003. Entitled… Bali bombing: An investigator's analysis http://www.geocities.com/seanews1/JP/BaliBombing.html

The best comparative example of a car bombing in a populated area was the 1998 Omagh car bombing. The Omagh explosive was a 225kg Ammonium nitrate and fuel oil bomb. Ammonium nitrate and fuel oil also known as ANFO has twice the maximum force of potassium chlorate. The 225kg ANFO car bomb caused serious damage to adjacent buildings. However, only caused minor damage to buildings and vehicles in a 50 metre radius. 29 people were killed; the majority of deaths were caused by shrapnel. All of the bodies were visibly identifiable. 220 people were injured in the blast giving a 12% rate of fatality. No crater remained. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/953620.stm

ABDURRAHMAN WAHID: Amrozi was involved in the lighter bomb. That's a problem always. Even though I agree that he should be given a stiff punishment, but it doesn't mean that he is involved. No, no, no. REPORTER: So you believe that the Bali bombers had no idea that there was a second bomb? ABDURRAHMAN WAHID: Yeah, precisely. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0510/S00223.htm

Just before a nuclear device goes critical, or in other words, just before it explodes, an electromagnetic pulse is emitted. This produces an electromagnetic shockwave which can overload electrical circuits in the perimeter. http://www.fas.org/nuke/intro/nuke/emp.htm

Captain Rodney Cocks: “Then the power cut...all the power went out. I didn't think bomb. I didn't think anything at that stage. And then, probably, I'd say two seconds later, there was just the huge flash” http://www.defence.gov.au/news/armynews/editions/1062/topstories/story01.htm

BEN TULLIPAN: I just basically remembered convulsing, like I was being electrocuted. Just shaking and shaking and I couldn't...I couldn't stop it. I couldn't stop. ADAM WRIGHT: All's it felt like was being in a tunnel, um, with no...with no hearing. http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2003/transcripts/s946351.htm

Anna Nishida: After the second bang, it sounded like 100 rats racing all over the place. The sound seemed to get louder and quieter and it was all over the place. About five seconds after the second bang, we heard the shattering of glass. http://abc.net.au/news/indepth/featureitems/s700690.htm

Just metres from the injured in Denpasar Hospital, Bali, more than 150 mostly completely burned bodies are lying on every surface in the white-tiled morgue. A crowd of Indonesian men shuffle through, faces impassive above their shirts which they have tugged up to cover their noses to block the smell of charred flesh. Many of the bodies and body parts are unrecognisable. Flesh has burned through to bone. Many of the corpses are locked in poses of fear - arms in front of faces, or curled up in a foetal position in a futile attempt to escape the flames. Just one face is identifiable among all the bodies. She is white with shoulder length sandy blonde hair wearing a pink and yellow striped top and a chunky silver and copper watch. She faces the ceiling, one eye open. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/14/1034222685390.html

In one small Balinese village, Kampong, seven empty coffins were laid to rest. http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/03/107756.php

BEN TULLIPAN: There were a lot of pieces of people...beside me, like they'd been torn off. JOHN GOLOTTA: Oh...just...just body parts. People's eyelids blown off, staring at you. Just one guy laying on the ground with his intestines strewn all over him. http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2003/transcripts/s946351.htm

"We ran down to help, but there were so many people in the street, burned, injured or dead. One woman had lost the whole bottom half of her body. A man was crawling up the lane. He had no feet." http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/14/1034222684262.html

Some poor bugger was laying right on the corner and one of his legs was gone. He was just saying . . . 'what's going to happen to me?' BRUCE BAKER, of the Gold Coast http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/10/13/1034222681245.html

Haji "Bambang" Prianto: There were people with their chests ripped open, and I could see straight into them, and see their hearts still pounding. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/03/1064988382131.html

I saw limbs lying on the ground. I got to the stage where I couldn't film any more because it made me feel physically ill. I've never seen anything like it in 12 years of reporting. RICHARD POORE, New Zealand TV director http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/10/13/1034222681245.html

DR DIDER PALMER: It wasn't only burns injuries, although everyone was burnt. These were blast injuries, so explosion injuries. All the burns were complicated by that because there was debris embedded in the skin, but also blow out injuries - for example, exploded lungs. Everyone had exploded tympanic membranes, burst bowel, amputation injuries and also partial surgery from Bali where the doctors and nurses there had done really very remarkable things. So we were picking up people a little bit along the line. http://sunday.ninemsn.com.au/sunday/feature_stories/transcript_1414.asp

DR. PETER HAERTSCH: No, I've never in 22 years of burns surgery come across anything like this. Concord Hospital, Sydney http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s702138.htm

In 2005, New Mexico Tech's Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center simulated the omagh car bomb loading a 1987 Toyota Celica with 225kg Ammonium nitrate and fuel oil. The vehicle was completely wiped out,… it left no crater. http://www.emrtc.nmt.edu/

In the USA Television series “mythbusters”, they detonated a truck full of explosives. It was completely wiped out. It left no crater.

*At 80 PSI overpressure: Even heavily reinforced concrete is heavily damaged. Skulls are crushed, fatalities are total. *At 20 PSI: Heavily built concrete buildings are severely damaged and demolished. Fatalities approach 100%. At 10 PSI, the maximum overpressure force of C4: Reinforced concrete buildings are severely damaged. Severe lung and heart damage occurs. Limbs can be blown off. At 4 PSI, the maximum overpressure force of Ammonium nitrate: Most buildings collapse, except for concrete reinforced buildings. Injuries are universal, fatalities occur. At 2 PSI, the maximum overpressure force of Potassium chlorate: Residential structures collapse. Brick walls are destroyed. Serious injuries are common. Fatalities may occur. At 1 PSI overpressure: Window glass shatters. Light injuries from fragments occur. http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/05/145335.php

RDX which is almost identical to C4 has a maximum overpressure force of 10PSI. Ammonium nitrate and fuel oil can reach 4PSI. And Pottasium Chlorate has a maximum overpressure force of 2PSI. http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/05/145335.php

Deputy House Speaker A. M. Fatwa stated, "My conscience says that he is not a key actor. I don't believe that Amrozi has the capability to make all kinds of preparations for the bombings, like setting off a kind of nuclear bomb in Bali." http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/03/107756.php

Robert Finnegan posted this statement from his website… I was the lead investigator and Senior Editor for The Jakarta Post on the Bali bombings. Shortly after my analysis was printed, I was sacked at the order of U.S. Ambassador Ralph Boyce … The Ambassador REFUSED to answer my question - yes or no - as to U.S. involvement. My journalist visa was then cancelled and I was forced out of the country despite being married to an Indonesian national. Inquiries are welcome. Robert S. Finnegan Managing Editor South East Asia News http://www.seanews.2truth.com/ http://simplyappalling.blogspot.com/2005/07/silencing-of-american-journalist.html http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=11173369&blogID=34968730&Mytoken=20050708024711

Jemaah Islamiah, or JI, the so called SE Asia wing of Al qaeda was immediately blamed for the Bali bombings. JOHN HOWARD: We will be moving, Mr Speaker, as a government, to have Jemaah Islamiyah listed as a terrorist organisation in the UN as soon as possible. http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/stories/s702288.htm

Jemaah Islamiah formed after the CIA funded and trained islamist militants during the soviet-Afghan war. The Bali bombing and the 1993 WTC bombing terrorists linked to the CIA, are simply written off as blowback from poor US foreign policy. However, there is an important twist to the CIA backing of the mujaheedeen. Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Jimmy Carter's National Security Adviser revealed this in a 1998 interview to the French magazine 'Le Nouvel Observateur', Brzezinski: According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the Mujahadeen began during 1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, 24 Dec 1979. But the reality, closely guarded until now, is completely otherwise: Indeed, it was July 3, 1979 that President Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. And that very day, I wrote a note to the president in which I explained to him that in my opinion this aid was going to induce a Soviet military intervention. 15-21 January 1998

This man, simply known as Hambali, was named as the mastermind of the Bali bombings. He received military training in Afghanistan under the CIA. http://www.crisisgroup.org/library/documents/report_archive/A400845_11122002.pdf http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A14662-2002Feb2¬Found=true http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2003/s925069.htm

In 1978, one year before the start of the soviet-afghan war, Fauzi Hasbi was captured by this Indonesian Special Forces unit. He became a secret agent for Indonesian military intelligence. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0510/S00223.htm

The International crisis group or ICG published a report in December 2002 entitled “HOW THE JEMAAH ISLAMIYAH TERRORIST NETWORK OPERATES”. The report which was detailed in The Age newspaper declared Fauzi Hasbi, … He treated senior JI member Hambali as a son http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/12/11/1039379881285.html

2 years prior to the Bali bombing, Fauzi Hasbi facilitated a JI meeting in Malaysia chaired by Hambali. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0510/S00223.htm

President George W. Bush: “In the last two days, we captured a major terrorist, named Hambali. He's a known killer who was a close associate of September the 11th mastermind Khalid Shaykh Muhammad. Hambali was one of the world's most lethal terrorists who is suspected of planning major terrorist operations, including that which occurred in Bali, Indonesia, and other recent attacks.” http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/08/20030814-2.html#

The Indonesian government requested access to Hambali for questioning over the Bali bombings. The Bush administration refused and he remains in US custody to this day. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/23/1066631567650.html?from=storyrhs

Fauzi hasbi, aka Abu jihad, was killed after he was exposed as an Indonesian intelligence agent. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0510/S00223.htm

Months prior to the Bali bombings John Howard’s cabinet received specific warnings of possible terrorist attacks in Bali. All specific intelligence came from this man, Omar Al-Faruq.

Australian intelligence warnings were documented in a submission to the Senate by the Office of National Assessments. http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/fadt_ctte/completed_inquiries/2002-04/bali/submissions/sub03.rtf

On 20th October, 2002, The Sydney morning herald published… It was reported yesterday that Australian defence security experts were warned of specific terrorist risks against Australians in Bali more than six weeks before the bombing. A national classified email written by a Defence Department security adviser in August said intelligence warnings indicated Bali and Australian citizens were in danger of possible attack. Defence Security Authority principal security adviser Keith Wilson wrote an email alerting military staff in Victoria and Tasmania flying to Indonesia on August 27. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/19/1034561354185.html

According to ICG reports, Omar Al-Faruq trained with so called Bali bombing mastermind Hambali in Afghanistan under the CIA. http://www.crisisgroup.org/library/documents/report_archive/A400845_11122002.pdf

Omar Faruq had also met with Indonesian intelligence agent, the late Fauzi Hasbi on the 15th of December 1999. http://www.crisisgroup.org/library/documents/report_archive/A400845_11122002.pdf

In June 2002, Omar al Faruq was handed over to the United States by Indonesian authorities, under the CIA's special rendition program. http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1497865.htm

Indonesian intelligence expert, Sayed Abdullah, who operates an Indonesian intelligence firm, asserts that the CIA and the Israeli secret service… "It is clear that the CIA and the Mossad have infiltrated such organizations and have done much more than that," Sayed Abdullah, who operates an intelligence services firm in the Indonesian island of Maluku’s, told IslamOnline.net. "This is how they infiltrated the alleged Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) in Indonesia," Sayed Abdullah said. The Indonesian expert argued said that "to achieve this, the CIA used one of its operatives, Omar Al-Faruq, an Arab living in the U.S. who speaks Arabic and knows a little about Islam and who was sent to Indonesia to infiltrate the so called terrorist groups.

He said that Al-Faruq initially infiltrated the Laskar Jihad, a group of Muslim volunteers fighting for the safeguard of the Maluku’s during the conflict of the Island. When the Laskar was winded down by its leader, Al-Faruq was sent to join the Mujahideen Council of Indonesia (MMI), created and headed by jailed Indonesian Islamic leader Abu Bakar Basyir, added Sayed Abdullah…………………. "After he failed to be a member of the Mujahideen Council of Indonesia (MMI) and failed to get to Basyir, he decided to work on the followers of Basyir. It is then that he came into contact with some of the Bali bombers and this is how the whole Bali operation was conducted," according to the Indonesian intelligence expert. http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-04/21/article06.shtml

Consistent with these claims, the ICG report stated that… The hardliners within JI and the strategists of its bombing campaigns have reportedly fallen out with Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, whom they consider insufficiently radical. He and some of his closest followers were reportedly opposed to the Bali bombings. http://www.crisisgroup.org/library/documents/report_archive/A400845_11122002.pdf

ABU BAKAR BASHIR: The bomb that killed so many Australians was an American bomb. It wasn’t the bomb made by Amrozi and his friends. I don’t know whether the Australian government pretends not to know this - or really doesn’t know. If they don’t know, they’re stupid, but I think they’re just pretending. http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2006/s1735051.htm

Weeks prior to the bombings the US government threatened the president of Indonesia to secretly handover Bashir, to the CIA. In a meeting with then President Megawati Sukarnoputri a CIA agent told Megawati to handover Bashir or there would be trouble. Former US State department translator, Fred Burks, who was present at that meeting spoke out when the US government lied that they had not pressured Indonesia to handover Bashir. http://www.wanttoknow.info/050228secretmeeting http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/jun2003/indo-j13.shtml

Astonishingly, the Bush administration rejected Indonesia’s requests for Al-Faruq to give evidence at Bashir’s trial. http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2003/s925069.htm

Al Faruq “escapes” high security prison. http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1497865.htm

The suspects are believed to have picked the lock on their cell, changed out of their bright orange uniforms and made their way through a heavily guarded military base under the cover of night. They then crawled over a faulty wall where a getaway vehicle was apparently waiting for them. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/04/international/asia/04escape.html?ex=1291352400&en=24ad526cb83b3590&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

MARK COLVIN: British troops in Iraq have killed one of al-Qaeda's most senior operatives there. Omar al Faruq has been described as the link between Osama bin Laden's terrorist organisation and Jemaah Islamiah, the group responsible for the Bali bombings of 2002 and 2005. Faruq was captured in Indonesia in 2002, but then embarrassed the US when he escaped from their prison at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan last year. He was tracked to the Iraqi city of Basra and shot dead in a pre-dawn raid by around 200 British troops. http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2006/s1749500.htm

Coincidence? ELIZABETH JACKSON: One of the world's most important international terror suspects has been shot dead in the Philippines. Police say the bomb-maker and Jemaah Islamiah mastermind, Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, who escaped from a Manila jail in July, was gunned down by security forces on the southern island of Mindanao. Al-Ghozi, born in Indonesia, was a senior JI member, training and supplying weapons to operatives connected to al-Qaeda. Terrorism experts say his death bolsters the position of Philippines President Gloria Arroyo, who's now in the middle of an election campaign, however, as Toni Hassan reports, they warn that al-Ghozi will be quickly replaced as Jemaah Islamiah continues to actively recruit members across Asia. TONI HASSAN: The Philippines Military Vice Chief-of-Staff has today confirmed that Islamic militant Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi was tracked down and killed in a shoot-out with a joint police-military team in the Southern Philippines overnight. Few other details are known. Al-Ghozi had been on the run for three months after slipping out of Manila's heavily secured police headquarters with two suspected members of the local guerrilla group, Abu Sayyaf. The escape happened at the very time Prime Minister John Howard was in the Philippines capital to discuss counter-terrorism measures. Stunning in its execution, the escape seriously embarrassed Philippines President Gloria Arroyo and her government's anti-terrorism credentials. Al-Ghozi, an Indonesian in his thirties, was a graduate of Abu Bakar Bashir's controversial Islamic school and a confessed member of Jemaah Islamiah, the terror group blamed for the nightclub bombings in Bali a year ago. http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2003/s965785.htm A month earlier fingerprint tests invalidated Al Ghozi’s first death. His second death did not meet such scrutiny. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2003/09/08/941415.htm

One month prior to the bombings, a former Indonesian State-intelligence chief spoke out to the respected news magazine, Tempo. Former State Intelligence Coordinating Board (BAKIN) chief A.C. Manulang has said that Kuwaiti citizen Omar Al-Faruq, a terrorist suspect who was arrested in Bogor, West Java, on June 5, 2002 and handed over to the US three days later, is a CIA-recruited agent. Al Faruq was assigned to infiltrate Islamic radical groups and recruit local agents within these groups. “When Al Faruq finished his assignments, the CIA created a scenario that he had been arrested,” Manulang told Tempo News Room in Jakarta on Thursday afternoon (19/9). Manulang made this analysis based on the pattern used by Al Faruq, that of having Kuwait citizenship but holding a Pakistani passport, entering Indonesia as a refugee and marrying an Indonesian woman. This kind of operation is aimed at starting conflicts in Indonesia and creating the image that Indonesia is a land of terrorists. (READ THIS LAST) “After the CIA obtained complete data on this matter, they then made Al-Faruq disappear. It’s common in intelligence world,” said Manulang. Manulang said he considered several matters in the arrest of Al Faruq last July to be odd, such as the denial of National Police chief Gen. Da?i Bachtiar over the police?s involvement in Al Faruq?s arrest, and the lack of official documents in Al Faruq?s handing over to the US. ?In the handing over of a detainee to other country, there should be an announcement or deportation document· Al Faruq?s case indicated a lack of coordination between the Indonesian police and intelligence agencies,? said Manulang. http://www.prisonplanet.com/omar_al_faruq_recruited_by_the_cia.htm

Prior to the Bali bombings the Indonesian government opposed America’s war on terror. The New York Times published a piece 4 days after the Bali bombings entitled, TERROR IN BALI, WARNING TO JAKARTA. ''We told them: 'Wrap it up. Block it. Demonstrate that you are serious about eliminating the threat against us,' '' the official said, declining to be any more specific about what action was expected. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0A17F63D590C758DDDA90994DA404482&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fOrganizations%2fC%2fCentral%20Intelligence%20Agency%20

After the bombings the United States of America and the Republic of Indonesia released a joint statement… Agreeing that terrorism poses a continued threat to international peace and security, and that the two Presidents are committed to enhancing their bilateral cooperation in the fight against terrorism http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031022-1.html

ALEXANDER DOWNER: “Everybody now realised clearly that Indonesia was subject to terrorism and terrorist attacks and so there was a much greater degree of unity in the government in addressing the issue.” http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2002/s703502.htm

After the bombings, the Bush Administration set-up a national counter terrorism unit under the control of national police chief, General Dai Bachtier. The man who announced that the FBI had discovered C4 at the site of the Bali bombings, directing blame towards Al qaeda and JI. C4 was never included in final reports. The Bush Administration handed over various funds to General Dai Bachtier and the Indonesian military, reconsolidating their power lost after the East Timor massacres were exposed. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0510/S00223.htm