Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Countries in Asia and the Pacific may have reduced the threat of terrorism but were warned by prominent terrorism researcher Sidney Jones not to become complacent, at a security conference Saturday in Jakarta.
The two-day conference that began Friday was organized by the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP) and attended by security experts from some 20 countries in the region.
One of the speakers, Jones, said since many new radical organizations had been established in Indonesia, the terrorist threat was still real. She said terrorist groups were looking for new recruitment areas in conflict zones across the region.
"Several radical organizations beside Jamaah Islamiyah have emerged, only they haven't received the same publicity, or are still in the process of formation," she told reporters in the sidelines of the conference.
Jones said terrorist groups, which had been targeted by massive police campaigns, were looking for new training and recruitment grounds in localized conflict areas in southeast Asia.
Police have reportedly arrested some 300 members of the Jamaah Islamiyah militant group throughout Indonesia, and have killed many others, including Malaysian fugitive Dr. Azahari who allegedly masterminded the Bali bombings.
Jones said terrorist groups from the southern Philippines and Indonesia were attempting to get into southern Thailand to help local insurgent movements there.
"(The situation in southern) Thailand is getting worse, but has not internationalized yet. It will be a nightmare if insurgents there ask for help from a regional group.
"The big risk is if Indonesian and Philippine alleged terrorists get involved... It hasn't happened yet and we hope it doesn't," she said.
Aside from Poso and Maluku in Indonesia, the southern Philippines and Thailand have increasingly become flash points of conflict in the region. Connections between Indonesian and Philippine radical groups have occurred in the past with Umar Patek and Dulmatin, two Indonesian terrorist fugitives who joined the terrorist movement in the Philippines.
Many have expressed fears that radical movements in Indonesia and the Philippines are cooperating with groups in southern Thailand to create a solid regional network.
A resurgence of violence by guerrilla groups in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, the three southernmost provinces of Thailand, which began in 2001, has resulted in more than 2,500 deaths in the past decade with more than 2,300 occurring after problems escalated in January 2004.
International relations and security expert from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Rizal Sukma, also spoke at the two-day seminar and echoed Jones' views.
"They always look for conflict areas to recruit people, because it is easier for them to influence people there," he said.
Rizal said as long as the root causes of terrorism, such as a perception of injustice, were not addressed by the government and community as a whole, its resurgence and new attacks were still possible.
He said regional cooperation and action is needed to address the possible regionalization of terrorism, and suggested involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to help tackle the issue.
Louise Richardson of Harvard University said the mistakes of the Bush administration in declaring war against all groups, rather than targeting al-Cued alone, served to increase terrorist activities with the formation of numerous small terrorist groups which were difficult to detect.
"We hope the new US administration will shift their focus to other issues, but it is unclear because the leading Republican candidate said fighting terrorism will be his priority," she said.