Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it
exclusively produces is in the public domain.

Report: Indonesia's Militants Can Be Contained but Not Eliminated
-----------------------------------------------------------------

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=BC9A8C:2AB91D3

New report says problem of violent Islamic militancy in Indonesia is
in some ways broader than originally thought A new report on Islamic
militant networks in Indonesia says the problem is unlikely ever to be
fully conquered and warns that a number of would-be suicide bombers
are still at large. However, the report says the groups can be
contained, and that militants are unlikely to pose a long-term threat
to the stability of Indonesia or the wider region.

The report, compiled by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group,
says the problem of violent Islamic militancy in Indonesia is in some
ways broader than originally thought.







Jemaah Islamiyah leader Abu Bakar BashirInternational attention has
been focused on Jemaah Islamiyah, the group behind a number of
attacks, including the October 2002 Bali bombing that killed than two
hundred people, and attacks in Jakarta on an American-run hotel and
the Australian embassy.

But the report says Jemaah Islamiyah is just one of a number of
militant groups capable of launching such attacks. Most are splinters
of a larger movement that unsuccessfully challenged the Indonesian
government 50 years ago. The report says these groups are exploiting
their common ancestry to cooperate in providing logistical support for
attacks and hiding militants on the run.

It says the militants will be impossible to completely eradicate, but
despite this, the International Crisis Group says there are grounds
for hope that they will weaken.

Sidney Jones is one of the report's authors. She says the militants
are recruiting in a diminishing pool.

"Even in the strongholds of places that have recruited and produced
bombers and violent jihadists in the past, there are actually not very
many people interested in joining these networks, there is more
resistance than there is interest," she said.

Ms. Jones says the networks are unlikely to get enough supporters to
pose a significant threat to the stability of Indonesia or the rest of
Southeast Asia.

In the wake of attacks over the past two and a half years, dozens of
militants have been rounded up and many have been given long prison
sentences. However, the relatively small number still at large remain
a danger. The report says they recruited seven suicide bombers: three
have been arrested, one blew himself up outside the Australian
embassy, but three have not yet been captured.