Columbia International Affairs Online
CIAO DATE: 6/5/2007
Indonesia: Jemaah Islamiyah’s Current Status
May 2007
Abstract
In late March 2007, arrests by Densus 88, the police counter-terror unit, netted seven detainees in Central and East Java (an eighth was killed); a huge cache of explosives and weaponry; and documents that seemed to suggest a new military structure for Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the region’s largest jihadist organisation. The arrests followed directly from information obtained from operations in Poso, Central Sulawesi, in late January.
Wildly differing assessments of JI’s state in the aftermath of the March raids suggest a more systematic stock-taking is in order. What remains of the organisation today? What are its aims, and funding sources? Where are its strongholds? Who are its leaders? What is its relationship with other jihadist organisations at home and abroad? Crisis Group believes JI retains a solid core that probably totals more than 900 members across Indonesia. It likely is not growing but it retains deep roots and a long-term vision of establishing an Islamic state.
While the organisation of its military wing may have changed – but the materials found in March raise more questions than they answer – JI’s strength remains rooted in a territorial command structure, with a five- or sixperson religious study circle as the basic building block. Its administrative hierarchy has been largely reduced to what was once Mantiqi II, the division that covers Indonesia, making the head of Mantiqi II (Nuaim alias Abu Irsyad) in effect the JI leader, whether or not he formally carries the title of amir.
