Captured terror chief 'planning Bush summit attack'

The man accused of being al-Qaida’s operations chief in South-east Asia was planning an attack on a summit in October attended by US President Bush when he was arrested, officials said today.

Hambali, who is accused of masterminding the Bali bombings and of being linked to the 9/11 attacks in the US, was being interrogated at a secret location by American investigators.

Washington revealed last night that he was arrested in Thailand’s ancient temple city of Ayutthaya on Monday. It brought to an end one of Asia’s biggest manhunts and will be seen as a major victory for the US-led war on terrorism.

But many fear it might also trigger a wave of revenge attacks by his Jemaah Islamiyah group – accused in the Bali blasts, the August 5 Marriott Hotel bombing in Jakarta, and a spate of deadly explosions and terror plots elsewhere.

A jubilant Bush described Hambali as “a known killer who was a close associate of September 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed”. The president did not say where Hambali was being held.

Officials in Thailand said today that he had been flown to Indonesia under US custody. But that was denied by Indonesian police.

Hambali was allegedly preparing to stage an attack in Bangkok during the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation leaders’ summit in October, Thailand’s Nation newspaper reported today. A cache of explosives was also discovered, it said.

Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh confirmed the report.

“There is ground to believe that the report is true,” he said. More details will be disclosed by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra when he returns from an official visit to Sri Lanka later today, Chavalit added.

Hambali is number two in Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which has links with al-Qaida.

The JI chief, Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, is on trial for treason and deadly Christmas Eve 2000 church bombings there.

Thai authorities are believed to have known Hambali was in Thailand in January last year, where he planned the October 12 Bali bombings at a meeting in Bangkok.

Since then, according to The Nation’s intelligence sources, he had returned to Thailand twice trying to evade an international police manhunt.

The paper said Hambali was arrested after travelling to the northern province of Chiang Rai to hide among the Muslim community in Ayutthaya.

The alleged terror chief had been born into a poor family in Indonesia’s West Java province before becoming involved in the JI network as a teenager.

The governments of Australia and terrorism experts hailed his arrest.

“This man is a very big fish,” Australian Prime Minister John Howard said.

“Psychologically, this capture will inflict a very heavy blow on the worldwide terrorist network.”

Philippine National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said the arrest “chopped off one of the heads of Jemaah Islamiyah”.

He said it “demonstrates the effectiveness of international co-operation in the fight against terrorism”. But he warned “not to let our guard down”.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hasan Wirayuda said his government would ask Washington for Hambali to be brought to stand trial in Bali even though Indonesia has no extradition treaty with the US.

“In view of our ongoing (security) co-operation, when the United States no longer needs Hambali we will ask for him to be delivered here,” he said.

“Many countries want him, not just us, because he is linked with international terrorist acts,” he said.

Hambali is also wanted by Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.