Jemaah Islamiyah Forms Hit Squad

(Jakarta, Indonesia) Information about the hit squads was discovered during raids in Java last month when seven suspected members of the al-Qaeda satellite, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), were apprehended.

Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah has set up an assassination squad and made a target list that includes police, judges and prosecutors, Indonesia's anti-terror chief said in a newspaper report published Monday.

The hit squad is believed to have about 100 operatives who would target both locals and foreigners in Indonesia.

According to Anti-Terror Chief Maj. Gen. Ansyaad Mbai, "We also know from their propaganda that the West, the Christians, are their enemy. It is logical that they could target Christian priests." Yeah, so what else is new Mr. Anti-Terror Chief?

Frankly, I don't know why the Indonesian government even bothers to capture and convict the JI terrorists because they are customarily given a hand-slap at sentencing and freed with only token jail terms.

In any event, the Jakarta Post considered the news of hit squads to be important enough to run the story as the lead headline in today's edition.