Asian Transformations in Action - Api-fellowships.org

SPECIFICITIES OF GLOBALIZATION 1611. Internal networks Intra-organisational links In-country linksa. JI (Indonesia) Wakalah (district-based organisation)I Surakar-ta, Wakalah II West Java,Wakalah III Central Java, WakalahIV East Java, Wakalah V SouthernSumatra, Wakalah VI Northern Sumatra,Cell in Sulawesi, Cell in Malaysia,Cell in Mindanao, Cell in Singapore,Cell in Cambodiab. ASG (thePhilippines)How did a leaderless movement build its network?Besides through personal contacts and friendships, therole of the virtual network is of importance. In fact, twoof the Sonata group’s members are Internet savvy, andwere tasked—besides to communicate with Dulmatinin the Philippines via email—to communicate with theworld via websites. By tracing the JI case, there is alsono doubt that Imam Samudra was Internet-minded. Hespent a great deal of his time surfing jihadi websites andchatted with persons who have the same views as him.After the Bali bombing, he extensively communicatedwith other JI members via email and monitored thepost-Bali bombing case via websites. He was capturedwith his laptop and the investigators found materialfor his future website claiming responsibility for theBali attacks, expressing his violent ideology, stating13 reasons for the attack and warning America and itsallies concerning future attacks (see Adisaputra 2006;Samudra 2004). Two JI-linked lecturers from Semarang(Central Java), Agung Prabowo and Agung Setiadi, alsomade a website (www.anshar.net) for Noordin M. Topp,which was used to post their ideology of violence andnews of Noordin’s activities as well as to communicatewith other jihadists. In jail, Iman Samudra was also ableBasilan-based ASG (KhaddafiJanjalani), Jolo-based ASG(Commander Robot), MaguindanaobasedASG, ASG lost commandsc. RKK (Thailand) BRN-C (parent organisation), Pemuda(youth wing of BRN-C), Pejuangs(BRN-C’s loose network with broadervillage-based insurgents)2. External networks Types of linksNgruki Network,Kompak, LaskarJundullah, NII, freelancemujahidMNLF lost command,Moro Islamic LiberationFront (MILF) lostcommand (Pentagongroup)GMIP, Pusaka, Bersatu,PULO/New PULO,Jamaah Salafia. JI-Al Qaeda Financial network, personal network, training (Afghanistan; Poso,Indonesiab. JI-ASG Personal network, training (the Armed Forces of the Philippinesestimated that more than two dozen JI members had been workingwith the ASG in Basilan and Sulu)c. JI-RKK No hard evidence. JI attempted to build cells in Thailand,but there is no evidence on the existence of an active JI cell inSouthern Thailand. Some RKK operatives are reportedly trained inBandung and Medan by Indonesian militants (not necessarily byJI members). A Thai Students Association in Indonesia (PMIPIT)is reported to play a role in overseas fundraising and in facilitatingthe training and recruitment of RKK operatives and other militantinsurgents.d. ASG-Al Qaeda Financial network, personal network, training (Afghanistan;Basilan, the Philippines)e. RKK-ASG/Al Qaeda No evidenceTable 5: Actual networks in the researched countriesto communicate with other jihadists, as well as withAgung Prabowo and Agung Setiadi, and posted hisviews on www.anshar.net via a laptop smuggled to him.This shows that members of this group have built andused virtual networks to communicate with the worldfor their cause.The ineffectiveness of the discouragements by religiousleaders and their choice to trust the Internet shows howeffective the Internet is in sustaining the movement.The improved technology of the Internet to hide certainmessages and its easy access means it will continue tobe used to build and maintain the JI network as wellas to nurture its ideology. Because of this, “this may bepart of the explanation for how in the last seven yearsJI has shown resilience as a clandestine organizationand demonstrated an ability to adapt to internal riftsand crackdowns by the authorities” (Ismail 2007). Theeasy use and access of Internet material, as one jihadistmaintained, means that “the sprawling and anarchicnature of the web makes it easy to operate: Just put upa site, run it until it is closed down, and then put itup again somewhere else” (Ismail 2007). Thus, even ifthe organizations of JI and other terror groups couldAsian Transformations in ActionThe Work of the 2006/2007 API Fellows