ID :
20368
Sun, 09/21/2008 - 11:09
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/20368
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Seoul busts 74 Islamic terror suspects since 2003: document
By Yoo Cheong-mo
SEOUL, Sept. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has detected a total of 74 foreign terror
suspects, including those linked to al-Qaeda, over the past five years, according
to a classified document of the National Intelligence Service that was made
public by parliament on Sunday.
The document showed that the 74 foreign terror suspects were either arrested or
expelled on 19 separate occasions since 2003 for engaging in various criminal
activities, including plotting terror attacks, collection of intelligence on U.S.
military troops here, drug trafficking and money laundering.
In one case, eight agents of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a Southeast Asian militant
Islamic organization allegedly linked to al-Qaeda or the Taliban, were deported
in October 2004 after being caught attempting to execute a terrorist attack on a
foreign embassy in Seoul.
Jemaah Islamiyah, which means Islamic congregation in Arabic, is reportedly
dedicated to the establishment of an Islamic state in Southeast Asia,
incorporating Indonesia, Malaysia, the southern Philippines, Singapore and
Brunei. The group was added to the United Nations list of terrorist organizations
in 2002.
Last October, three individuals from South Asian countries were forced to leave
the country for collecting information on U.S. military troops stationed in South
Korea, while another group of 10, also from South Asia, were arrested for
attempting to carry out illegal foreign capital transactions valued at 40 billion
won (US$33 million), said the document.
Two individuals of Arab descent were arrested last July for trying to provide
drug material to Afghanistan's Taliban via South Korea, while four other Arabs
were caught in May of the same year for similar drug trafficking activities
related to the Taliban, it said.
South Korea has so far been considered a green zone safe from international
terrorists. The report is the first time the nation's anti-terror agency has
disclosed the secret operations of foreign terror suspects here.
SEOUL, Sept. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has detected a total of 74 foreign terror
suspects, including those linked to al-Qaeda, over the past five years, according
to a classified document of the National Intelligence Service that was made
public by parliament on Sunday.
The document showed that the 74 foreign terror suspects were either arrested or
expelled on 19 separate occasions since 2003 for engaging in various criminal
activities, including plotting terror attacks, collection of intelligence on U.S.
military troops here, drug trafficking and money laundering.
In one case, eight agents of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a Southeast Asian militant
Islamic organization allegedly linked to al-Qaeda or the Taliban, were deported
in October 2004 after being caught attempting to execute a terrorist attack on a
foreign embassy in Seoul.
Jemaah Islamiyah, which means Islamic congregation in Arabic, is reportedly
dedicated to the establishment of an Islamic state in Southeast Asia,
incorporating Indonesia, Malaysia, the southern Philippines, Singapore and
Brunei. The group was added to the United Nations list of terrorist organizations
in 2002.
Last October, three individuals from South Asian countries were forced to leave
the country for collecting information on U.S. military troops stationed in South
Korea, while another group of 10, also from South Asia, were arrested for
attempting to carry out illegal foreign capital transactions valued at 40 billion
won (US$33 million), said the document.
Two individuals of Arab descent were arrested last July for trying to provide
drug material to Afghanistan's Taliban via South Korea, while four other Arabs
were caught in May of the same year for similar drug trafficking activities
related to the Taliban, it said.
South Korea has so far been considered a green zone safe from international
terrorists. The report is the first time the nation's anti-terror agency has
disclosed the secret operations of foreign terror suspects here.
