Al-Qa'ida man's US suicide mission
Simon Kearney
The Australian
A KEY assistant to the man thought to have been ultimately responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings was planning to take part in a suicide attack inside the US, a military tribunal has heard.
Evidence provided to the tribunal said Bangkok-based al-Qa'ida financier Mohamed Farik bin Amin Zubair helped syphon money to Jemaah Islamiah in 2003 and was the Bangkok "contact" of Hambali, JI's strategist and the man in charge of the first Bali attack, which killed 88 Australians.
The hearing, believed to have been held at Guantanamo Bay, heard how the August 2003 Marriott hotel bombing in Jakarta was funded using $US50,000 ($62,000) couriered by Zubair from Pakistan.
A transcript of the hearing released by the US military details how the money was requested by Hambali and sent through Zubair to Indonesia.
The US said it had evidence that Zubair was also to have been part of an attack in the US.
"The detainee (Zubair) was identified by an al-Qa'ida operative as a member of an al-Qa'ida suicide team that was to participate in a plan to attack a building in the US," the combatant status review tribunal hearing heard on March 17.
The attack referred to was probably part of al-Qa'ida's planned second wave of attacks following those of September 11, 2001. Zubair was known to be part of a Malaysian suicide cell, put together by Hambali and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, whose members intended to fly a plane into a Los Angeles skyscraper in 2002.
Zubair's arrest in southern Thailand in July 2003 was seen as a crucial breakthrough in the hunt for Hambali, who was arrested in Bangkok three weeks later.
The US said the money he supplied funded the car bomb attack on the Jakarta Marriott, which killed 12 and injured 144, and he was involved in a plan for another bombing in Cambodia.
"The money transferred by the detainee was eventually delivered to Indonesia and used to fund a safe house and to purchase materials for the Marriott attack," the hearing heard.
"The detainee and other JI operatives left a suitcase containing $US3100 and instructions on how to make and detonate a car bomb with Abdul Aziz Hajicheming in Cambodia."
Hajicheming was arrested in May 2003. The Cambodia link could have been a foiled plot to attack a regional forum of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Phnom Penh in 2003.
Hambali was also thought to be planning an attack on the 2003 APEC forum in Bangkok.
A verdict on Zubair's status as an enemy combatant was not delivered.
Evidence provided to the tribunal said Bangkok-based al-Qa'ida financier Mohamed Farik bin Amin Zubair helped syphon money to Jemaah Islamiah in 2003 and was the Bangkok "contact" of Hambali, JI's strategist and the man in charge of the first Bali attack, which killed 88 Australians.
The hearing, believed to have been held at Guantanamo Bay, heard how the August 2003 Marriott hotel bombing in Jakarta was funded using $US50,000 ($62,000) couriered by Zubair from Pakistan.
A transcript of the hearing released by the US military details how the money was requested by Hambali and sent through Zubair to Indonesia.
The US said it had evidence that Zubair was also to have been part of an attack in the US.
"The detainee (Zubair) was identified by an al-Qa'ida operative as a member of an al-Qa'ida suicide team that was to participate in a plan to attack a building in the US," the combatant status review tribunal hearing heard on March 17.
The attack referred to was probably part of al-Qa'ida's planned second wave of attacks following those of September 11, 2001. Zubair was known to be part of a Malaysian suicide cell, put together by Hambali and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, whose members intended to fly a plane into a Los Angeles skyscraper in 2002.
Zubair's arrest in southern Thailand in July 2003 was seen as a crucial breakthrough in the hunt for Hambali, who was arrested in Bangkok three weeks later.
The US said the money he supplied funded the car bomb attack on the Jakarta Marriott, which killed 12 and injured 144, and he was involved in a plan for another bombing in Cambodia.
"The money transferred by the detainee was eventually delivered to Indonesia and used to fund a safe house and to purchase materials for the Marriott attack," the hearing heard.
"The detainee and other JI operatives left a suitcase containing $US3100 and instructions on how to make and detonate a car bomb with Abdul Aziz Hajicheming in Cambodia."
Hajicheming was arrested in May 2003. The Cambodia link could have been a foiled plot to attack a regional forum of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Phnom Penh in 2003.
Hambali was also thought to be planning an attack on the 2003 APEC forum in Bangkok.
A verdict on Zubair's status as an enemy combatant was not delivered.
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