Indonesian terror chief threatens US, Britain, Australia, Italy

A video found in the hideout of one of Asia’s most wanted militants shows a masked man threatening attacks against the US, Britain and Australia.

Police suspect the man in the video could be Malaysian fugitive Noordin Mohamad Top, considered a key leader of the al-Qaida-linked south-east Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah.

“As long as you keep your troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and intimidate Muslim people, you will feel our intimidation and our terror,” the man said in the video.

“You will be the target of our next attack.”

Noordin has been accused of direct involvement in at least four deadly bombings in Indonesia, including the 2002 and 2005 suicide attacks on the resort island of Bali that together killed 222 people, many of them foreign tourists.

National police chief General Sutanto said authorities were convinced the man in the video was Noordin.

“Judging from his accent, we believe it was Noordin,” he said.

Police said the video was found along with several other recordings one week ago in a hideout in central Java province that had been used by Noordin, who fled before officers arrived.

At about the same time, anti-terror police raided the safe house of Azahari bin Husin – Noordin’s right hand man – killing him.

“Our enemy is America, Australia, England and Italy,” the masked man said, pointing his finger at the camera.

Later he singled out Australian prime minister John Howard and foreign minister Alexander Downer.

“Especially you,” he said. “Remember that.”

Earlier in the video, three men who carried suicide attacks on three crowded Bali restaurants last month told their families that they expected to be rewarded in heaven.

It is believed to be the first time suicide bombers in Indonesia have made a video before launching an attack, said Bali police chief Major General I Made Mangku Pastika.

Jemaah Islamiyah, which wants to establish an Islamic state spanning Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the southern Philippines, has been weakened by a regional crackdown in recent years.