The End Of Jemaah Islamiyah

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Lessons From the Near-Defeat of a Once-Feared al Qaeda Affiliate in Indonesia -- U.S. News And World Report

Jemaah Islamiyah, a militant Islamist group based in Indonesia, was once called "al Qaeda's Southeast Asia wing" and regarded by many as Osama bin Laden's most dangerous ally. In 2002, 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed reportedly tried to recruit JI members to crash airplanes into the Library Tower in Los Angeles. That plot was foiled. But later that year, JI bombers killed more than 200 people in Bali.

Now, after three years of intensive counterterrorism efforts, and a modest injection of American aid, much of the core leadership of JI has been killed, captured, or marginalized, while the remnants of the organization are increasingly divided over the use of terrorism as a tactic. U.S. intelligence agencies believe that its key links with al Qaeda, based largely on personal relationships, have been severed. "We can see the possibility of the end of the JI threat," says a senior U.S. intelligence official. Sidney Jones, an Indonesia expert with the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank, goes further when asked about the threat from JI. "For this generation," she says, "it's almost gone."

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