Jakarta – With an unstable security situation and well-entrenched separatist movements, Indonesia has become fertile soil for international terrorist groups to sow seeds of violence, experts warned.

Military analyst Hasnan Habib said on Wednesday that the country's prolonged economic crisis, resulting in increasing unemployment, had enticed local people to join terrorist groups.

He added: "A country with a high rate of unemployment like Indonesia is undoubtedly a fertile place for terrorism to grow." Separatist campaigns, such as those being waged by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Aceh and the Free Papua Organisation in Irian Jaya, could also encourage the emergence of overseas-linked terrorism.

The recent bomb explosions that rocked various parts of the country may have involved separatist groups, and also their supporters overseas, noted Mr Hasnan, a retired army lieutenant-general. "We know that many supporters of GAM live in Malaysia. Also there are several organisations in Australia which support separatism in Irian Jaya," he said.

The increasing terrorism has only served to prove that both military and police intelligence personnel were incapable of taking adequate countermeasures. Their inability to anticipate terrorist acts may be rooted in their inexperience with terrorism in the past, especially during President Suharto's rule.

Meanwhile, former defence minister Juwono Sudarsono blamed the poor performance of the intelligence services on financial constraints. He said: "Even the police and military in advanced countries frequently could not prevent terrorist attacks." Mr Munir, a human-rights activist, said the efforts to end terrorism must begin with the solving of internal political problems, as all acts of terrorism were rooted in such problems.