Friday, September 15, 2017

Riza Aziz's Red Granite will not challenge DOJ claim that money stolen from 1MDB financed Dumb and Dumber : Apandi left hanging ,Najib must follow

by Ganesh Sahathevan


         Najib, Rosmah ,conducted 1MDB business with 
         PetroSaudi on their own without 1MDB management,
         or board present


CNN reported in June this year:
......... the Justice Department claimed that tens of millions of dollars were diverted from a Malaysian government investment fund to produce "Dumb and Dumber To" and "Daddy's Home."
It's part of what prosecutors say was an enormous international fraud: Corrupt officials and financiers stole $4.5 billion from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) between 2009 and 2015, laundering the money through a series of shell companies with bank accounts in the United States and abroad.
Red Granite has denied knowingly accepting illicit money. The studio said it was cooperating with the Justice Department and "remains an active production company, moving ahead to complete post production work on its next feature film."


The DOJ's asset seizure process is against the  asset, in this case the rights to all income from "Dumb and Dumber To" and "Daddy's Home."  the defendant .Any party interested in the asset can then challenge the DOJ in court. The reported settlement (see below) with regards the rights to  both movies suggests that  Red Granite has dropped its argument that it was an innocent recipient of a gift that was used to finance these movies,and it was therefore the rightful owner of the rights to income of both movies.
It also suggests that Red Granite and Riza Aziz have given up the defence that Malaysia's Attorney General Apandi has found no theft and no wrongdoing with regards 1MDB ,and PM Najib,despite the facts contained in the DOJ's complaints.
END 

Red Granite Settles With U.S. Government Over 2 Films As Part Of 1MDB Case

     
Red Granite Pictures, the Hollywood financier and producer of Oscar-nominated The Wolf of Wall Street and other movies, has reached a settlement with the U.S. government for a portion of a wide-ranging federal investigation involving a fund known as 1 Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB.

Deadline was the first to report that Red Granite and its co-founder and CEO Raza Aziz were being investigated by the feds and that the company’s assets included the films Daddy’s Home and Dumb and Dumber To could be seized. This settlement (read it here), if approved, would resolve the rights and interest to those two movies.

The court document, filed today by Red Granite reps Boies Schiller Flexner in U.S. District Court for the Central District Of California said in part: “The contemplated settlement … will fully resolve the actions assigned case numbers 16-cv-5362-DSF (PLAx) and 17-cv-04439-DSF (PLAx), and any other potential claims involving Red Granite or any of its assets, and will continue to hold harmless any third parties that do business with Red Granite.”

It’s unclear what other forfeitures may be in play in the case, but in June, the DOJ outlined why it should be able to seize all rights to those Red Granite films as well as real estate, jewelry, a jet, artwork of Van Gogh, Monet, Picasso, Basquiat and Diane Arbus, and movie posters including an original of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis valued at $1.3 million.

“We are glad to finally put this matter behind us and look forward to refocusing all of our attention back on our film business,” Red Granite said in a statement later today.

The broader case seemingly remains ongoing against Aziz, who is the stepson of the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. Razak turned 1MDB into a state-run entity in 2009, ostensibly to help the economic well-being of Malaysia. But the DOJ says funds to the tune of more than $3 billion were “stolen” from 1MD. The DOJ has alleged a vast scheme carried out by co-conspirators to enrich themselves.

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

At the White House, Najib does another 1MDB: Najib's promise of investment from EPF,Khazanah wholly illegal

by Ganesh Sahathevan



Remarks by President Trump and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak of Malaysia Before Bilateral Meeting
PRIME MINISTER RAZAK:  Secondly, we have Employees Provident Fund, which is a major pension fund in Malaysia.  They’ve got quite a big sum of capital to be exported.  They have invested close to $7 billion, in terms of equity, in the United States.  And they intend to invest three to four additional billion dollars to support your infrastructure redevelopment in the United States.
PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Great.
PRIME MINISTER RAZAK:  And thirdly, our sovereign fund, Khazanah, they have an office in Silicon Valley.  They have invested about $400 million, in terms of high-tech companies, and they intend to increase that investment as well.


The EPF in particular, being a pension fund, is meant to be independent of government, answerable to its members only.Investment decisions are to be made by its investment panel. What Najib has done at the White House is to promise investment from a fund that is by law meant to be independent of him and his government.Of course, in reality, the fund is often plundered to further political ends.Given the FBI and DOJ investigations,this does look like a bribe paid for with another theft.
END 

Saturday, June 24, 2017

PAS leader Ustaz Hadi Awang hints at 1MDB scale problems at Tabung Haji , EPF

by Ganesh Sahathevan



Reproduced without comment (for the time being):

“We shouldn’t repeat history by inviting foreign quarters to solve our problems such as the BMF scandal, Perwaja, Tabung Haji, EPF and 1MDB.”










Hadi: Islam rejects ‘foreign intervention’ to solve internal problems


Saturday June 24, 2017
11:00 AM GMT+8
 
Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang Aziz stressed that internal issues in the country must be heard by our own courts.— Picture by Yusof Mat Isa


















Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang Aziz stressed that internal issues in the country must be heard by our own courts.— Picture by Yusof Mat Isa


KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 — PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul

Hadi Awang has urged all quarters to reject foreign powers from

meddling in the nation’s affairs, as it is forbidden by Islam.
“The Quran forbids Muslims from trusting other quarters in solving their internal problems.
“Whether right or wrong, a problem must be resolved internally with patience,” he said in an open letter posted on his official Facebook page.
Hadi said it was foreign intervention by the colonisers that led to the fall of the Islamic government in Melaka.
“After that, the whole Indonesian region was colonised and divided, which led to the downfall of Islam.
“We shouldn’t repeat history by inviting foreign quarters to solve our problems such as the BMF scandal, Perwaja, Tabung Haji, EPF and 1MDB.”
Hadi also said that it was the intervention of foreign powers which led the downfall of Islam in Spain, after being around for eight centuries.
“The lights of Islam have been turned off in Spain until today.”
Hadi stressed that internal issues in the country must be heard by our own courts.
“As cruel and as stupid as we can be, let us bear this ourselves and at the end of the day, we will be blessed with peace.
“There will always be foreign quarters who are looking for opportunities around. Enough, we have been colonised for several centuries and its effects hasn’t fully recovered.”
Last Thursday, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced its latest civil filing that sought to seize US$540 million (RM2.31 billion) in assets obtained by funds allegedly stolen from 1MDB.
The latest civil forfeiture complaints from the lawsuit launched last July alleged that more than US$4.5 billion had been misappropriated from the Malaysian state investment firm from 2009 through 2015.
1MDB has since responded saying that the allegations were not backed with proof.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) subsequently said that it will leave the matter with the police to handle.
Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali had said that no wrongdoing or misappropriation was found in 1MDB after the Malaysian firm was probed by various agencies, such as the MACC, the Auditor-General and the bi-partisan Public Accounts Committee.

Monday, September 11, 2017

Najib-Trump meeting: Trump may see Najib as an ally against ISIS,but US ally The Philippines does not agree

by Ganesh Sahathevan




Confirmed by the MNLF's Nur Misuari,who holds the Malaysian Government 
responsible for the fact:There are MNLF commanders who assist Abu Sayyaf 
members by providing manpower, firearms and bullets, getting a share of the ransom 
money or other loot in return,”\


Najib to the US: 

Rest assured, Malaysia will always stand shoulder-to-shoulder with America on this vital mission to eliminate a terror group whose acts sicken all of civilised humanity.


On the other hand,MNLF Chairman Nur Misuari, at a press conference with President Duterte:

And apart from that, our source is saying that since Malaysia is the one who is involved in this kidnapping for ransom, probably, one day, I will drag their leaders into that International Criminal Court. I have all the evidences in my hands. My people are everywhere and besides, they cannot escape because they are hiring my own people.
Even Sipadan, they hired my cadre officers, because they opt for the millions and then they have the ball to ask one of my nephews here, “we want to see the chairman.” They suggested Jeddah or Saudi Arabia, Mecca then they said we’ll meet at his camp. Then recently they said, let us meet, advance our meeting in Indonesia. He is one of my members of my delegation now. I said: “Stop it, I don’t have the heart to see these people.”
After they make this conspiracy to destroy the honor and integrity of my people, I am so concerned, Mr. President, because one time I had a press conference, it was a big room in Malaysia, but before, at that time, I did not know yet who was behind the Sipadan.

DUTERTE TRANSCRIPTS: Duterte and Misuari

Want create site? With Free visual composer you can do it easy.
Presidential Communications Office
Presidential News Desk
PRESS CONFERENCE OF
PRESIDENT RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE
AND
MORO NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT CHAIRMAN NUR MISUARI
[Malacañan Palace | 3 November 2016]
PRESIDENT DUTERTE: Good afternoon. Kindly find your seats to make you comfortable. I have a great news for you. 
It is with great happiness that I announce to the nation that Chairman Nur Misuari, our brother who heads the MNLF, has finally decided to just accept my invitation for him to talk to us.
He has obliged and we are very grateful. Secretary Dureza just did the legwork and all. He was able to pave the way for Chairman Nur to come here, I said, upon my invitation.
There is the pending warrant which is lifted now upon my orders so that we can talk and I would like to assure Nur, brother Nur, that there was never any intention to deprive you of your liberty. 
As far as we can remember, when I was vice mayor, you were touring Mindanao and I accepted you with open arms and I said that maybe someday we can finally talk about peace and little did I know, brother Nur, by the grace of Allah, I became the President of the Republic and in the twilight of our years, we would be able to talk about the problem of our country, the revolution that you have led all these years and finally, understanding on a common ground with government.
And that I assure you, I said, as you have narrated, we will come up with the modality and then of course, how to place us in our proper homeland, our Mindanao, and that we will talk about the Bangsamoro Authority.
We are ready for that, brother Nur. And as a matter of fact, I said, I was elected for six years. But I told Congress if they are able to craft a territorial structure for the federal government and go ahead with the elections and provide the presidency for another form of government, I assure you that upon its completion, if it could be done earlier, three, two years, you have my word, I will resign as President and pave a way for a territorial government which would have provided also maybe a strong president but equally strong national parliamentary, subject to the rules of federalism which will provide a greater leeway, elbow room for governance for our people.
I am for it. I know that we have talked. Many times you passed by Davao City that we would just agreed to a federal set-up, give everybody his due, do justice to the Moro people committed many years, many centuries ago. 
You know brother Nur, this is not really to pull my own chair. But when I was talking to a lot of the Americans and I said, and I reminded of the several massacres, not only in Jolo but in Samar, the belfry, the bell that was from the church there was taken out by the Americans and because one colonel died there, an American. Every male, ten years and above, it’s cut off also.
So these are the things that I said contributed to a lot of injustice and you have to pardon the next generation for we did not know, at least the Filipinos now in Mindanao.
So we would like to ask that we work together with our Moro brothers and create a country that is really, that is just and that is good and that would be for the next generations to come.
It’s… I would like you to just say a few words and we can maybe ask—maybe they can ask questions later. But, this is the podium being used by the President, you know that, because you also was once upon a time a Cabinet member.
May I ask you to just give a short talk using the podium of the President of the Republic of the Philippines. May I? Chairman, brother Nur?
MNLF CHAIRMAN NUR MISUARI: [Muslim greetings of peace] I begin, I began my statement with this universal greetings of peace of the Islamic world because peace is a most, most vital humanitarian value to us. I came here just to see the President, not thinking that I would be airing this press conference because I came here only in answer to the invitation of the President. The man whom I respect and trust.
For I believe, as I said during the campaign, that this one single man who can provide solution to the problem of peace and order in our homeland. I’m not so sure about Visayas and Luzon but our homeland of Mindanao because that’s the place where I was born, that’s the place where I intend to die.
Just a while ago, I reminisced on my life. I said, I told Secretary Dureza when we passed by and about to enter the main gate, I said it was in this Freedom Park where I spent nine days, nine nights of my life. I was then teaching in the University of the Philippines. But I had to abandon my teaching profession to the extent that I had to resign because I was not happy with the reaction of the late president Ram—the late president Marcos.
In the aftermath of the killings of more than 200 of our people in Corregidor islands, innocent youth of our homeland, I led a series of demonstrations. I organized one in Congress. But when they called me to say my piece, I said no. I’m not happy with their reaction of the Congressmen. Why did they not honor us by sending somebody here just to talk to us.
So I gathered only nine of our leaders and asked them to join me and I told them, now I will march to Malacañang Palace because it was our agreement in the mosque, in Taguig Mosque, including the father of my brother here, Abukair Alonto.
We swore to the Almighty God that we’ll ask at least simple justice and we’ll not stop until we get simple justice from the government. What kind of simple justice? We demanded in our streamers, we said, ‘Mr. President, please return our brothers dead or alive. Please Mr. President.’ We were blaring at the Malacañang Palace. We had a powerful microphone. We occupied for nine days, nine nights. I slept in that Freedom Park for nine days, nine nights. I left only when I went to the university to change my dress, to take a bath and like that.
At the end of the nine days, nine nights when instead of replying courteously to our demand, the late president instead issued astatement before the media and it became headline issue. It said, Mr. President Marcos has promoted one rank higher the executioners of the Muslim in Corregidor.
So I said when the media came they asked me, how long will you stay Mr…Professor Nur Misuari will you stay here? I said, this is the end. I will end my stay here tonight. There, I gathered our leaders and we swore to the Almighty God to start our struggle for our complete freedom. I resigned from the university. I always told myself that the academic profession is the first love in my life. I was so in love with that profession.

But when we did not get even a simple justice from the government, so I decided to cut off myself from the university and now I am already over 48 years of my life. I told our dear brother, the President, I was already determined to stay put in the mountains were it not for his call, were it not for his invitation. It’s just that I cannot reject his invitation because I respect him too much.
And now I came here to thank him, first also for restoring my freedom, if only partially. When released from the residence of my wife, Mr. Kjartan Sekkingstad after we got him from the hands of the Abu Sayyaf, we were very, very lucky the Abu Sayyaf sent only — according to Sekkingstad – only 60 warriors.
And upon my instruction, I asked my people to envelop their car right away and I sent one battalion of my forces. So they had no choice but to give us to us.
Then when he left the residence of my wife, you know what he said? “I am so happy to be alive.” 
Now I want to tell you, paraphrasing that statement of my friend Kjartan, now I am so happy to be free again, owing to the initiative of our President.
My first impulse was, I said, I told Secretary Dureza, I said I would rather let the President speak for us. 
How often did groups of media people try to convince me to welcome them in my camp, except for Al Jazeera which was commissioned by the CNN– Another two, ABS-CBN and I don’t know, another international media organization. I welcomed them there.
Because… I am sorry to say this. I’m not happy with the performance of some media people. They distort my statement. And some of them are insisting– Before they used to insist, MNLF is a spent force.
When the September 9 Zamboanga war came, President PNoy was asked, Mr. President, with this war, can you still say that? No, no, no, no. Misuari is strong, MNLF is still alive. 
And now they are saying, mouthing the German propagandist, repeating lies and lies and lies. That this group of traitors called executive committee of 15, they said, this is the biggest group, sometimes MILF.
No, sir. Not even one barangay of my people in, can they match in Jolo. 
They only have handful of people. Even right now, you can ask Hadji Murad himself, how many thousands of his forces, how many thousand of his arms have been brought back to us. You can ask my brother here, one of my commanders from Lanao, ay from Cotabato.
He will tell you most of the titles are already with me. And even the BIFF have told me, brother Nur if you go to war, count on us, BIFF.
Ask somebody to dispute this. And now I came here, foremost in my mind is how can we help our President finish his job through to the end of his six-year term. Because I know for a fact, he will not abandon his pledge to the people. 
He said, I’ll give you peace, peace in Mindanao. Is that so Mr. President? So I support him for that. When he said, brother Nur why don’t you move against the Abu Sayyaf? So I started moving.
First, I sent 1,700 of my forces, my inner security, to the eastern part. And we cordoned off the position of the Abu Sayyaf—Oh yes, Abu Sayyaf. They said, no, no, we give you, we return back. So the 10, but some people, enterprising people, when  they came, they offered them some money and claiming the media there, we were the ones. No sir, no. 
With due respect to the Armed Forces, even the two that they got, they were only spillover from us. One of them swam during dark pitch night to the sea, because they were guided, he was guided by flittering light of fishermen.
Then when you reached them, where do you want to go? We want to go to the MNLF. So he was brought there, from there he was sent over to the Armed Forces of the Philippines. 
They told me, there are other two. So I asked them to scour the whole mangrove areas, et cetera. We could not find.
Later on, he showed up in the highway. And the Armed Forces came. But it’s the start of the work I did. 
That’s the thing I want… I want people to be truthful about things. If you want us to be fair with you, you want us to deal with you, please be fair with us, just tell the truth, simple truth.
And secondly, about this campaign against drugs, one of my commanders, I was telling Secretary Dureza while we were flying from Jolo to Manila, I told him, one of my commanders has written me a report saying, [Hadji?] addressing me.
Everytime I finish my prayers in the morning, morning prayers, I go to the balcony of my humble house, overlooking the highway, in Jolo. Everytime I see people, young people, in the prime of their life, walking like insane people. I say what’s the cause? Drugs.
They are destroying our children, our youths. Who will succeed us after this, when our citizens are already destroyed by these drugs? To us, I’ve always been saying that drug is a restless creeping threat to humanity.
International organization is spreading billions and billions and produce no result at all. This is biggest, one of the biggest source of crimes to humanity, these drugs.
And apart from that, our source is saying that since Malaysia is the one who is involved in this kidnapping for ransom, probably, one day, I will drag their leaders into that International Criminal Court. I have all the evidences in my hands. My people are everywhere and besides, they cannot escape because they are hiring my own people.
Even Sipadan, they hired my cadre officers, because they opt for the millions and then they have the ball to ask one of my nephews here, “we want to see the chairman.” They suggested Jeddah or Saudi Arabia, Mecca then they said we’ll meet at his camp. Then recently they said, let us meet, advance our meeting in Indonesia. He is one of my members of my delegation now. I said: “Stop it, I don’t have the heart to see these people.”
After they make this conspiracy to destroy the honor and integrity of my people, I am so concerned, Mr. President, because one time I had a press conference, it was a big room in Malaysia, but before, at that time, I did not know yet who was behind the Sipadan.
Sipadan has just broken loose in the word media. They asked me, they asked question, before even I can, I could open my mouth, one German lady stood up and pointed her finger at my face. “You know Governor, your people are the worst people in the world.” I said: “Sit down, I will explain to you”.
Because she said: “why did they kidnap people for ransom?” Now, I told them. I told, I said “listen, I can understand what is prompting in your heart, in your soul. I can understand that because you come.”
And so with due respect from Western civilization and according to Western civilization in my studies, there is such thing like collective punishment. When somebody commits mistake, commits crime, what will he do? They already do, they can even destroy the whole community, just one second.
But in our case, we are Muslims, the crime of the father cannot be imputed to the son. Let alone, the crime of the son can’t be imputed, no. So we stop. And the people started howling at me, mostly white people. She was very irresponsible. 
So I want to stop here. Just allow me to reiterate my sense of gratitude to the President and I promise that should he need our cooperation in his campaign for peace, you can count on us, Mr. President. [Muslim greetings]
—END—

 Refrences
The Malaysian state owned and controlled New Straits Times confessed much,even as
it attempted to portray the Malaysian Government as a peace maker.
- Cel


Ties that bind MNLF, Abu Sayyaf

Abu Sayyaf militants brandishing weapons in 2014. The beheading of Bernard Then in November by the Abu Sayyaf, a group that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, tells of their notoriety.
A three-way meeting was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Monday among three parties that have tried for 40 years to find peace.
The two-day meeting involved the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Judging by the lack of coverage by the media, they may not have found any solution yet.
A senior police officer in Kota Kinabalu said: “That is just a formality. It’s an avenue for them to meet and talk.”
Despite his nonchalance, the officer said anything that involved security in southern Philippines was closely monitored by Malaysia.
Because of historical links and proximity, many ply the sea route between Sabah and Southern Philippines for economic, social and political reasons. But, it is those who commit crime that get the most attention.
Malaysia cannot afford to miss out any development in the area where threats prevail from leftists, terrorists, robbers, smugglers and kidnappers. The Lahad Datu intrusion in 2013 and bandit groups that have struck the state six times, in which a total of nine hostages were taken from November 2013 to May last year, are reasons why.
The beheading of one hostage, Bernard Then, last November by the Abu Sayyaf, a group that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, tells of their notoriety.
On Jan 10, over 2,000 followers of the MNLF converged on Jolo island in Sulu province, triggering anxiety among the Philippine security forces.
Its fugitive leader, Nur Misuari, was also reportedly present in the gathering, which was later revealed to be a meeting to discuss plans for the tripartite meeting in Jeddah.
Misuari is wanted by the Philippine government for his role in a siege in Zamboanga in 2013, where about 200 people were killed and thousands displaced.
According to a report by ABS-CBN News that quoted an interview by Filipino radio station dzMM, MNLF spokesman Absalum Cerveza confirmed the meeting was presided by Misuari. Cerveza, however, denied speculation that the MNLF was forging ties with the Abu Sayyaf.
He explained the Abu Sayyaf fighters might have been present at the gathering because it coincided with a kanduli (feast), and many of them had blood relations with members of the MNLF.
“It was an open convocation. Everybody was welcomed if they liked to come,” Cerveza had said and denied allegations they were protecting the terrorist organisation.
“We have distanced ourselves from the Abu Sayyaf. We do not have control over them just like the military has no control over them.”
On the contrary, a senior military officer under the Zambasulta Joint Task Force (Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi) said there were ties that bonded the two groups.
“Based on revelations by rescued kidnap victims, Abu Sayyaf members in Indanan area (Jolo) are always seeking refuge in MNLF communities because of their blood ties.
“There are MNLF commanders who assist Abu Sayyaf members by providing manpower, firearms and bullets, getting a share of the ransom money or other loot in return,” said the officer.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein had said the IS, in its ambition to set up a caliphate in the region, had gained support from the Abu Sayyaf, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and Rajah Solaiman Movement in southern Philippines.
The arrest of a 31-year-old man from Sabah, believed to be the leader of an IS cell made up of seven militants in five states in the peninsula, asserts this.
Chairing the State Security Working Committee meeting here two days ago, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman called for cooperation from all to work together in combating terrorism.
“We must not be complacent. At the same time, the people must unite with the government and security agencies, and play their role by providing information on suspicious activities.
“We need to act on all signs or forms of threats that exist and carry out preventive measures.”
The writer, who is NST’s Sabah bureau chief finds solace from the hills, the wild and drama movies. Inspiration comes from long drives on the road, off-road and the fairways



Trump -Najib meeting : How will Najib explain Malaysian backing for Rohingya rebels as early as the 1990s?

by Ganesh Sahathevan








PM Najib's son -in-law,Daniyar Nazarbayev
at the Malaysian Armed Forces College,
Ulu Tiram


These excerpts from the reports below are presented without comment:


A) JI Training in Malaysia

The JI has been conducting training camps in Malaysia since 1990. Up to 1994, the training was focused mainly on maintaining physical fitness like jogging and trekking. From 1995, however, the training camps held in Gunung Pulai and Kulai began to also teach "military" skills (without firearms training). For instance, JI members were taught to make Molotov cocktails, learn knife-throwing skills, topography, jungle survival skills and trekking. In 1997, additional modules like guerrilla warfare, infiltration and ambush were included.According to Malaysian officials, the so-called school of terror,Luqmanul Hakiem school, was established more than a decade (before 2002, that is before 1992 by Abu Bakar Bashir and Hambali.2

Malaysian authorities say Bashir, Hambali, Samudra and Mukhlas had used the Luqmanul Hakiem school in Ulu Tiram, in the southern state of Johor, since 1993.3


B) " According to other reports from Asian security services, militants from the Jemaah Islamiah - which is connected to al-Qaeda and wants to set up a gigantic Islamic state encompassing Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and southern Philippines - a re also hiding out in these camps, which were set up in the early 1990s to train rebels from the Muslim Rohingya minority in Myanmar's Rakhine State. In more recent years, these camps have in effect been run by Bangladesh's most extreme Islamic outfit, the Harkat-ul-Jihad-i-Islami (HuJI), which was set up in 1992, reportedly with financial support from Osama bin Laden.

The Jemaah Islamiah is suspected of being behind a number of planned - but foiled - attacks against Western targets in Singapore, as well as the devastating bomb blast on the Indonesian island of Bali on October 12, in which nearly 200 people were killed, most of them Western tourists.

The Jemaah Islamiah militants in hiding in southeastern Bangladesh are believed to be mostly Malaysian and Singaporean citizens. It is, however, uncertain to what extent the Bangladeshi security services have been involved in their relocation. But well-placed local sources say that it would have been impossible without at least some tacit agreement with the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), Bangladesh's chief intelligence agency, which is closely connected with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). "

END 

 Ulu Tiram  is also part of the history of   US Defence and Intelligence activity in South East Asia:
In 1968, Sampley was one of a handful of American soldiers selected to attend the British Jungle Warfare School in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. He was trained for eight weeks by British, Australian and New Zealand instructors in jungle warfare, including methods of visually tracking humans in the jungle. While in Malaysia, Sampley was required to wear a British uniform because the British at that time did not want to publicize that they were training U.S. soldiers to fight in Vietnam.


References








Thursday, June 29, 2017



Vic Police Chief Graham Ashton appears to have ignored crucial evidence of Hambali, Abu Bakar Bashir's network of supporters



by Ganesh Sahathevan

These facts concerning Hambali, the Bali bombers, and Jemaah Islamiah have long been a matter of public record.,Victoria Chief Of Police Graham Ashton was chief Australian Federal Police investigator of the Bali bombings and ought to know these facts by heart (we do). The evidence of a strong level of passive support,at the grassroots and above is evident:


JI Training in Malaysia

The JI has been conducting training camps in Malaysia since 1990. Up to 1994, the training was focused mainly on maintaining physical fitness like jogging and trekking. From 1995, however, the training camps held in Gunung Pulai and Kulai began to also teach "military" skills (without firearms training). For instance, JI members were taught to make Molotov cocktails, learn knife-throwing skills, topography, jungle survival skills and trekking. In 1997, additional modules like guerrilla warfare, infiltration and ambush were included. Around 2000, reconnaissance and observation courses were conducted in Kota Tinggi; these classes were dubbed "urban warfare". The JI even conducted "Recall and Operation exercises" to ensure that members were operationally ready. 14 (which includes the 3 who went to Afghanistan) of the 21 arrestees participated in such training camps in Malaysia.

According to Malaysian officials, the so-called school of terror,Luqmanul Hakiem school, was established more than a decade (before 2002, that is before 1992 by Abu Bakar Bashir and Hambali.2

Malaysian authorities say Bashir, Hambali, Samudra and Mukhlas had used the Luqmanul Hakiem school in Ulu Tiram, in the southern state of Johor, since 1993.3


According to report in a Government-owned and controlled newspaper in Singapore, Abdullah Sungkar, was also among the founders of the Luqmanul Hakiem school. Mukhlas, brother of the Bali bomber Amrozi (who helped out at the school), helped set it up. Shahril Hat, an ex-engineer arrested by the Malaysian police, was the principal, while his assistant was Noor Din Mohd Top, a fugitive member of the Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM).Three other Bali bombing suspects , Idris, Imam Samudra and Dulmatin - were said to have met and studied at the same school in the early 1990s.A course instructor there was bomb-maker/trainer, Fathur Rohman Al Ghozi - now in custody in the Philippines4.





Nowhere in official AFP and other Australian Government reports have the above AND the their implications and consequences for the future of Australian national security been discussed. It must be assumed that Ashton and others have either suppressed if not are totally ignorant of the facts and/or the issues they raise.

That Ashton has ignored all this must break the hearts of those whose lives have been lost or otherwise affected by both Bali bombings.It also discloses an appalling lack of skill and knowledge, evidence most recently in the matter of Zulfikar Shariif.Of course, it is also likely that Ashton is more interested in preserving his "diversity" credentials.


Endnotes


1 Home Affairs Singapore-JI White Paper,located at http://www2.mha.gov.sg/mha/detailed.jsp?artid=550&type=4&root=0&parent=0&cat=0&mode=arc.See also http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/speeches/view-html?filename=2002091903.htm


2Mark Baker,” Revealed: school that bred the Bali bombers” The Age(Melbourne) November 22,2002 .Located at http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/11/21/1037697807092.html


3 JASBANT SINGH, Associated Press ; Bali Suspects Used Malaysia As Base, 4 December 2002

4 Melvin Singh, “ TERRORIST SCHOOL IN JOHOR “;The New Paper - 01 Dec 2002,

located at: http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/printfriendly/0,4139,8982-1038758340,00.html














































































































Celebrations and Bombs


by Bertil Lintner, Senior Writer, Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER)


More than 3 million Muslim devotees from 52 countries gathered along the banks of the Turag river, 30 kilometers north of Dhaka in Bangladesh at Tongi, Gazipur, for the three-day annual Biswa Ijtema (World Congregation) between December 14 and 16. The significance of the event was underlined by the profile of political leaders who attended: present at the concluding prayers were Bangladesh President Iajuddin Ahmed; the Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia; the leader of the opposition in parliament, Sheikh Hasina, and other political, civil and military leaders. The Ijtema is organized annually by the Tablighi Jamaat.


The Biswa Ijtema, the second largest congregation of Muslims in the world after the Hajj, ended peacefully despite rumors that some international terrorist groups may have planned to disrupt the event. But the fact that millions of Muslim devotees from across the world gathered in Bangladesh emphasizes the role that the country has come to play in the context of international Islamic brotherhood. Although the government in Dhaka has reacted fiercely to any suggestion that the country is becoming a haven for Islamic extremists, reports from Asian and Western intelligence services suggest otherwise.


Shortly after the fall of Kandahar in late 2001, several hundred Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters escaped by ship from Karachi to Chittagong. They were then trucked down to hidden camps in the Ukhia area, south of Cox's Bazaar. Local people report seeing heavily armed men, with a few Bangladeshis among them, in those camps. They were told that they would be killed if anyone told "outsiders" about this regrouping of ex-Afghanistan fighters in this remote corner of southeastern Bangladesh.


According to other reports from Asian security services, militants from the Jemaah Islamiah - which is connected to al-Qaeda and wants to set up a gigantic Islamic state encompassing Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and southern Philippines - are also hiding out in these camps, which were set up in the early 1990s to train rebels from the Muslim Rohingya minority in Myanmar's Rakhine State. In more recent years, these camps have in effect been run by Bangladesh's most extreme Islamic outfit, the Harkat-ul-Jihad-i-Islami (HuJI), which was set up in 1992, reportedly with financial support from Osama bin Laden.


The Jemaah Islamiah is suspected of being behind a number of planned - but foiled - attacks against Western targets in Singapore, as well as the devastating bomb blast on the Indonesian island of Bali on October 12, in which nearly 200 people were killed, most of them Western tourists.


The Jemaah Islamiah militants in hiding in southeastern Bangladesh are believed to be mostly Malaysian and Singaporean citizens. It is, however, uncertain to what extent the Bangladeshi security services have been involved in their relocation. But well-placed local sources say that it would have been impossible without at least some tacit agreement with the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), Bangladesh's chief intelligence agency, which is closely connected with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).


Security concerns heightened over the holding of the Biswa Ijtema in Tongi only a week after at least 18 persons were killed and 300 injured in bomb blasts in four cinema halls in the central Bangladeshi town of Mymensingh on December 7. Without being specific, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia described these as a "planned terrorist attack", while opposition leader Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League claimed that an "identified fanatic terrorist group within [the ruling] alliance is behind these heinous bomb blasts". The international news agency Reuters first reported that Home Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury had said that bin Laden's al-Qaeda network was behind the blast, but later had to retract the report after denials from the minister.


Subsequently, the police raided the local office of Reuters in Dhaka. Dozens of opposition activists were also arrested, but no link to them could be established. The raid on Reuters and the arrest of opposition politicians came only days after a British TV team and their local helpers had been arrested for trying to document the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Bangladesh and its possible consequences on the country's non-Muslim minorities.


Many foreign observers may contend that the Bangladeshi authorities are simply overreacting to international press coverage, but it could also be that the DGFI has too much to hide, and therefore wants to silence any reports suggesting that their country has become a hot-bed of Islamic fundamentalism.


The four-party alliance that won the Bangladeshi elections in October 2001 includes the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami, which has two ministers in the present government. Its youth organization, the Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), was behind Bangladesh's most devastating bomb blast before the cinemas in Mymensingh were hit - an explosion on June 15, 2001, at the Awami League office in Narayanganj, in which 21 persons were killed and over 100 others injured. The same government-connected outfit is also suspected of being behind several other bomb blasts as well as attacks on secular Bangladeshi politicians, journalists and writers.


The ICS is closely connected with the most militant of the Rohingya organizations along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border, the Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO), which also has links to the al-Qaeda. Video footage released by the American cable television network CNN in August this year and obtained from al-Qaeda shows Rohingyas as well as Bangladeshis training in camps near the country's southeastern border, but well inside Bangladesh.


Al-Qaeda's involvement in Bangladesh was confirmed in September this year when the police in Dhaka arrested seven "aid workers" working for the Saudi-based Al Haramain Islamic Institute. The men, who came from Libya, Algeria, Sudan and Yemen, belonged to an organization that had first come to Bangladesh to help Rohingya refugees, but later became involved in running Islamic centers all over the country. The so-called institute has been named by several sources as a front for al-Qaeda. Perhaps not surprisingly, nothing came out of the arrests and the whole affair was quickly hushed up by the Bangladeshi authorities, suggesting that the "arrests" were a mistake by some local police officer.


The United States has so far accepted the Bangladeshi government's assurances that the country is not playing host to international terrorist movements, and that it is a reliable partner in the global war on terror. But this ostrich-like mentality may change as more evidence to the contrary comes to light. The arrests of foreign journalists and the raid on Reuters in Dhaka are worrying signs of increasing intolerance in Bangladesh. And the hosting of the Biswa Ijtema is bound to attract the attention of "friendly" Islamic organizations, which see the country as a perfect place to hide out when international attention is focused on events in more high-profile countries such as Pakistan and Indonesia.


This article first appeared in the South Asia Intelligence Review of the South Asia Terrorism Portal, September 16, 2002


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