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Terror threat to Apec summit still exists: Armitage
Sydney, Aug 17: The threat of a terrorist attack at an upcoming summit of Asian leaders to be attended by US President George W. Bush has not ended with the arrest of alleged terror mastermind Hambali, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said.
Sydney, Aug 17: The threat of a terrorist attack at an upcoming summit of Asian leaders to be attended by US President George W. Bush has not ended with the arrest of alleged terror mastermind Hambali, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said.
Hambali, an Indonesian whose real name is Riduan
Isamuddin, was arrested last week in the central Thai town of
Ayutthaya, where he was allegedly planning an attack during
the October 21-22 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in
Bangkok.
"Whether that meeting's threat has been alleviated I can't say," Armitage said.
"But we know there are a certain number of terrorist plots that have been hatched and we have to guard against them, and the capture of Hambali, while very important, is not the end of terror in this region unfortunately," he said.
Hambali is believed to be the operational head of Jemaah Islamiyah, a regional terrorist network in Southeast Asia that is affiliated with al-Qaida and responsible for a string of bombings and plots around the region.
"We have a top planner, we do not have all the members of al-Qaida in our possession, or Jemaah Islamiyah in this case. I think a better assumption is that these fellows are out to do us ill and we ought to take every precaution against this," Armitage said.
Apec will bring together 21 regional leaders including Bush.
Bureau Report
"Whether that meeting's threat has been alleviated I can't say," Armitage said.
"But we know there are a certain number of terrorist plots that have been hatched and we have to guard against them, and the capture of Hambali, while very important, is not the end of terror in this region unfortunately," he said.
Hambali is believed to be the operational head of Jemaah Islamiyah, a regional terrorist network in Southeast Asia that is affiliated with al-Qaida and responsible for a string of bombings and plots around the region.
"We have a top planner, we do not have all the members of al-Qaida in our possession, or Jemaah Islamiyah in this case. I think a better assumption is that these fellows are out to do us ill and we ought to take every precaution against this," Armitage said.
Apec will bring together 21 regional leaders including Bush.
Bureau Report