Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

334 • JEMAAH ISLAMIYAHtwo of the future hijackers responsible for the World Trade Centerand Pentagon attacks of September 11, 2001.After the overthrow of President Suharto on 21 May 1998, bothBashir and Sungkar returned to Indonesia, where they expanded JIactivities, resulting in several dramatic terrorist attacks. On 1 August2000 the JI attempted to assassinate the Philippine ambassador witha bombing that injured 21 people, including the ambassador, andkilled two bystanders. On 12 September 2000 a JI car bombing nearthe Jakarta Stock Exchange killed 15 people and injured 20 others.The JI’s most notorious attacks were the Bali bombings, the first beingthe 12 October 2002 attack in which 202 people were killed andsome 209 injured, and the second, the 1 October 2005 attack in which20 people were killed, including the three suicide bombers, and 129injured. The JI was responsible for the Marriott Hotel bombing inJakarta on 5 August 2003 that killed 12 and injured at least 120. On9 September 2004 the JI carried out a suicide car bombing in front ofthe Australian embassy in Jakarta, killing 10 and injuring 182. A carbombing of the Hilton Hotel in the Egyptian resort town of Taba onthe Red Sea coast on 7 October 2004 resulted in 34 deaths and 159people injured, for which credit was claimed both by the JI and theTawhid Brigades, a group whose existence has been known only inconnection with this attack.The JI has been weakened by several arrests of rank-and-file members,as well as arrests of its key leaders. Hanbali was captured in asafe house in Thailand on 11 August 2003 by Thai police and CentralIntelligence Agency (CIA) operatives and has been held most recentlyat Guantánamo Bay. One of the original leaders of the JI, AbdullahSungkar, died in 1998; the other original leader, Abu Bakar Bashiri,was arrested on 15 October 2004 for conspiracy in connection with the2002 and 2005 bombings on Bali. Bashir was convicted on 3 March2005 and sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment but was released on14 June 2006 over the protests of the United States and Australia.The head of the Counter-Terrorism Coordinating Desk of Indonesia,Major General Ansyaad Mbai, stated in February 2007 that Bashirremained the spiritual mentor of the main faction of the JI. Followingthe 2002 Bali bombing, the JI had split into three factions; one is ledby Bashir, who now claims to be against attacks on civilians within Indonesia,while another, led by a Malaysian, Noordin Muhammad Top,has killed hundreds of people and is believed to have been behind the