October 31, 2002	Thursday	Sha’aban 24,1423

LONDONDERRY, Oct 30: The British government has ordered the freezing of all assets held by Indonesia’s Jemaah Islamiyah following the designation of the group by the United Nations as an organization associated with the Al Qaeda network.

Quoting Chancellor Gordon Brown, official sources said the group was prepared to bomb, shoot and kill their way to achieve the aim of establishing an “extensive Islamic republic” covering Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and parts of the Philippines.

Officials said evidence was available that members of Jemaah Islamiyah had been trained in Al Qaeda camps and had acquired bomb-making equipment.

In addition, they alleged, they have been found in possession of lists of terrorist targets as well as photographs and videos of intended targets.

The designation of the group as linked to the Al Qaeda by the UN security council was a result of representations made by Britain, in collaboration with the US and Australia, about the nature of Jemaah Islamiyah’s activities.

London has already frozen the assets of the Indonesian group and has instructed British banks not to transact business on their behalf.

TERRORIST ATTACK: Britain’s intelligence agencies have been entrusted with the task of ensuring that the highest priority is given to identification and prevention of a terrorist attack on the country or on British interests overseas.

According to official documents, the new spending plans for the agencies provide for an average 7.1 per cent growth in real terms from 2002-03 to 2005-06. The total spending on the “single intelligence vote” will be 291 million pounds higher in 2005-06 than in 2002-03.