June 26, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 21, 1429

JAKARTA, June 25: Southeast Asian ‘terror’ groups still pose a ‘very real’ and strategic threat requiring vigilance from governments, despite a drop in attacks, an Australian think-tank said on Wednesday.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute report said groups such as Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) of Indonesia, reportedly involved in the 2002 Bali bombing, were still capable of launching major terror attacks.

The report, which also examined Muslim radical movements in the Philippines and southern Thailand, warned policymakers against complacency after a successful crackdown on JI in Indonesia since 2002.

The group is now split between a ‘hardcore’ that still believes in violence and a ‘less extreme’ wing – but it could muster 900 militants, including at least 15 ‘first generation leaders’.

“Despite these changes, however, JI continues to represent a significant threat to both Australian and regional security interests,” the report said.

“The strategic threat from terrorism remains multifaceted and real” especially in the region’s “ungoverned spaces” such as southern Thailand and Mindanao in the Philippines, where religious conflicts fester, it says.

“It is essential therefore that Australian and Southeast Asian governments remain vigilant in the face of evolving political developments in these areas and work conscientiously to make these ungoverned spaces less hospitable to terrorist exploitation.”

The report, titled ‘Neighbourhood Watch: the Evolving Terrorist Threat in Southeast Asia,’ has been prepared by Peter Chalk, a senior policy analyst with the Rand Corporation in the United States, and former Australian Labour Party national security adviser and academic Carl Ungerer.

Its release comes two weeks after Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd pledged to boost security ties with Indonesia during his first state visit to Jakarta since taking office in November.—AFP