No group has yet claimed responsibility for the two attacks against Maulana Fazl ur Rehmans. The attacks have been strongly condemned by leaders around the region. Furthermore, according to PKAffairs, Afghan Interior Minister Rehman Malik constituted a joint investigation team to conduct an inquiry. The Minister had asked the JIT which would include DIG police and officials of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Intelligence Bureau to submit its report within a week.
In another major development, Umar Patek, the man responsible for the famous 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people has been apprehended in Pakistan and is currently being interrogated by representatives of four countries in Islamabad. His capture is hoped to reveal information about Southeast Asian terrorist networks.
According to a report released a few hours ago,
Handled right, Patek’s capture could finally put a stranglehold on the growing South-East Asian terror network and stop a series of planned attacks including, if the claims are correct, bombings in Australia. Despite his diminutive stature Patek is thin and only 166cm tall he is one of the world’s most feared terrorists.
He is believed to have been among a group of Indonesians, Malaysians and Filipinos who travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the 1980s and 1990s to train and fight.
On their return to South-East Asia, they allegedly formed Jemaah Islamiyah, with strong links to al-Qaida. They have been blamed for a string of suicide bombings and Patek is suspected of being the group’s deputy field commander during the 2002 Bali attacks, in which 88 Australians were killed.
Patek could give detailed information on Indonesians and Malaysian terrorists operating in the Philippines. He could also map out the links between Pakistan and South-East Asian terrorist groups, the missing piece of the counter-intelligence puzzle.
Nevertheless, AFP reports that Australia warned yesterday that the arrest Patek could spark revenge attacks against Westerners in Indonesia, and cautioned nationals against going there.
