This report from Singapore’s Straits

This report from Singapore’s Straits Times repeats the news that a high-ranking al Qaeda operative gave Abu Bakar Bashir, the recently-arrested Indonesion cleric, $133,000 to buy explosives. Bashir’s group, Jemaah Islamiah, used the money to buy three tons of explosives illegally from the Indonesian army; some of these explosives were used in the Sari Club attack. The fact that Army sources were willing to sell three tons of plastic explosives to a known Muslim fanatic is discouraging. The Straits Times has some additional information about other terrorist attacks planned by Indonesian Islamofascists, including randomly shooting Americans and Israelis at hotels across Indonesia. This proposal was reportedly abandoned because the terrorists believed its impact would be “minimal.” The report also notes that one of the group’s principal aims was to drive Christians out of Indonesia. Toward that end, they bombed a large number of Christian churches around Christmas 2000, and murdered a number of Christians.