U.S. adds Malaysians to Jemaah Islamiah suspects

KUALA LUMPUR Sept 6 - The United States late on Friday posted the names of 20 suspected members of al Qaeda's Southeast Asian offshoot, Jemaah Islamiah, ordering a freeze of their assets.

The U.S. Office of Foreign Asset Control added 10 names, all of them Malaysian, to its Web site. The names are in addition to 10 earlier announced by U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow at the end of an Asia-Pacific finance ministers meeting in Thailand.

``These terrorists have worked to achieve al Qaeda's terrorist goals in Southeast Asia,'' Snow told reporters on the Thai resort island of Phuket.

A U.S. Treasury press release issued earlier in Washington had listed seven Indonesians, two Filipinos and a Pakistani.

Jemaah Islamiah is blamed for last October's Bali bombing that killed 202 people and an attack on the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta last month in which 12 people were killed.

The 20 names amounted to a roll call of already captured suspects and known fugitives, going back to early 2001 when a foiled bank robbery in the southern Malaysian city of Johor Bahru gave the first clues to the existence of a Muslim militant group.

The United States was sending the names to the United Nations and, if it has no objections, all member states will be required to take similar actions.

``This designation is yet another important step in the ongoing effort by the international community to shut down JI terrorist operations in Southeast Asia,'' Snow said.

Since September 11, 2001, the United States and its allies have designated over 300 individuals and entities as terrorists and supporters of terrorism and frozen US$136.7 million.

Counter-terrorism experts say that sum is far short of the amount of funds believed to be accessible to militants.

Security officials in Malaysia say assets of the men listed have been effectively seized already.

Five of the Malaysians named are held in detention. Malaysia currently has close to 90 suspected militants under detention, of which 60 are suspected to be Jemaah Islamiah members.

Of the Malaysians still at large the biggest catch would be

Azahari Husin, a former university lecturer suspected of designing the Bali and Jakarta bombs.

Marzuki Zulkifli, 35, could supply answers to Jemaah Islamiah's finances. A trained accountant, he is believed to have fled to Thailand with operations chief Hambali in 2001. Hambali was caught in Thailand last month after returning from Cambodia.

``Marzuki was quite close to the top leadership. He was within the Jemaah Islamiah's central command,'' a senior security official said.

Zulkifli bin Abdul Hir, 37, attended university in Arizona, and worked as a mobile telephone engineer, but has been on the run after fleeing a bank heist shootout in 2001.

The two other Malaysians still at large are Noordin Mohamed Top, who was on a most-wanted list posted by police a year ago, and Amran bin Mansour.

Amran belonged to a cell in southern Malaysia that also included Mukhlas, a suspect in the Bali bombing.

Mukhlas, an Indonesian, was also listed. He is on trial with a younger brother Ali Imron. A third brother, Amrozi, was sentenced to death last month. Another defendant, Indonesian Imam Samudra, is also listed.

Other non-Malaysians named include Yassin Sywal, son-in-law of the late JI founder Abdullah Sungkar and Mukhlis Yunos, an explosives expert, identified as the head of special operations for the Philippines-based Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Also named is Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, an Indonesian explosives expert jailed in the Philippines but who escaped recently and is now on the run.

Following are brief details on the 20.

AZAHARI HUSIN, Malaysian. Born September 1957. Former university lecturer described as Jemaah Islamiah's top bombmaker. Status: On the run, last seen in Indonesia in July.

MARZUKI ZULKIFLI, Malaysian. Born July 1968. Accountant believed to have fled to Thailand with Jemaah Islamiah operations chief, Hambali, in 2001. Suspected of belonging to Jemaah Islamiah's central command. Status: On the run.

IMAM SAMUDRA, Indonesian. Born January 1970. Status: on trial in connection with the October 12, 2002, Bali bombings.

HUDA BIN ABDUL HAQ, alias Mukhlas, Indonesian. Born February 1960. Believed to be senior and influential JI leader with ties to Osama bin Laden. Status: on trial. Key suspect in Bali bombings.

FATHUR ROHMAN AL-GHOZI, Indonesian. Born February 1971. Explosives expert. Status: on the run. Police say he procured explosives for JI plan to attack U.S. and other Western interests in Singapore.

YASSIN SYWAL, Indonesian. Born around 1972. Son-in-law of JI co-founder Abdullah Sungkar. Status: on the run. Believed to have participated in planning and carrying out al-Qaeda plots in Southeast Asia, including an aborted plot to assassinate President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

MUKHLIS YUNOS, Filipino. Born around July 1966. Explosives expert. Status: On the run. Believed to be leader of the Special Operations Group of the Philippines-based Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and believed to have played a role in the December 30, 2000, bombings in Manila.

PARLINDUNGAN SIREGAR. Indonesian. Date of birth unknown. Status: On the run. Engineer identified by Spanish authorities as a close associate of an al-Qaeda cell in Spain.

JULKIPLI SALIM Y SALAMUDDIN, Filipino. Born June 1967. Status: Detained. Believed to have links to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and suspected of planning attacks on U.S. companies, government facilities, and shopping malls in the southern Philippines.

ABDUL HAKIM MURAD, Pakistani. Born January 1968. Licensed commercial pilot. Status: In U.S. custody after being indicted for conspiring to simultaneously blow up 12 U.S. commercial airliners over the Pacific.

SULAIMAN BIN ABAS, also known as Nasir Abas. Malaysian. Born May 1969. Jemaah Islamiah leader in the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island. The group helped operatives travel to the southern Philippines. He was arrested earlier this year and is in detention in Indonesia.

YAZID SUFAAT, Malaysian. Born January 1964. U.S.-educated ex-army captain who police say provided lodging to two of the suicide hijackers aboard the airliner flown into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Also believed by police to have been a contact in Malaysia for Zacarias Moussaoui, who is on trial for conspiracy in the September 11 attacks. Status: in custody.

WAN MIN WAN MAT, Malaysian. Born September 1960. Former university lecturer. Suspected of being ordered by Hambali to disburse funds used to finance the Bali attacks. Status: in custody.

ARIS MUNANDAR, Indonesian. Date of birth unknown. Police say he is a close associate of suspected JI leader Abu Bakar Bashir. Status: On the run

AGUS DWIKARNA, Indonesian. Born August 1964. Status: Sentenced to 17 years in jail for illegal possession of explosives.

ZAINI ZAKARIA, Malaysian. Born 1967. Underwent militant training in Afghanistan. Status: in detention.

AMRAN BIN MANSOUR, Malaysian. Born May 1965. Suspected member of Jemaah Islamiah cell in southern state of Johor. Status: on the run.

NOORDIN MOHAMED TOP, Malaysian. Born August 1968. Police posted the science graduate on its most-wanted list a year ago. Suspected member of the Johor cell. Status: fugitive.

ZULKILI BIN ABDUL HIR, Malaysian. Born 1966. U.S. educated telephone engineer. Status: Fugitive.

ABDUL MANAF KASMURI, Malaysian. Born May 1955. Retired lieutenant-colonel who served with U.N. peacekeepers in Bosnia. Status: Arrested in February. - Reuters