145;Al Qaeda plotted Indonesia attacks146;

Al Qaeda is responsible for a series of church bombings in Indonesia and plotted the assassination of President Megawati Sukarnoputri, according to the confession of a top agent from the terrorist network caught here.

Omar Faruq, a Kuwaiti who described himself as Al Qaeda8217;s senior representative in South-East Asia, said the group hoped to trigger a religious civil war in Indonesia that would lead to the formation of a 8216;8216;pure Islamic state8217;8217;, according to a confidential US document obtained on Tuesday by the Los Angeles Times.

Faruq8217;s statements indicate that Al Qaeda has been much more active in Indonesia than the government has been willing to acknowledge. Top officials have repeatedly denied that terrorists have been operating in Indonesia, the world8217;s largest Islamic country.

At the same time, Faruq8217;s confession suggests the terrorists have had a high failure rate in Indonesia. Various assassination and bomb plots were either bungled by the operatives or foiled by security measures, according to an electronic copy of the document summarising his interrogation. Faruq said he was sent to South-East Asia by top Al Qaeda leaders to plan 8216;8216;large-scale attacks8217;8217; against US interests. LATWP