US slaps sanctions on 3 leaders of LeT-linked group

8220;These three men have demonstrated their commitment to violence,8221; Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen said.

The actions against them are intended to disrupt their ability to access the international financial system to support their 8220;deadly agendas,8221; he said.

Announcing the sanctions against the three men,the US Treasury linked Jemaah Islamiya to other terror groups like al-Qaeda,LeT and Abu Sayyaf Group in southern Philippines.

Patek,a key member of JI,has planned and funded multiple JI terror attacks in the Philippines and Indonesia.

He has also trained operatives associated with the Abu Sayyaf Group ASG and personally developed explosive devices for this Philippines-based outfit. He was detained in Pakistan in early 2011 and was recently extradited to Indonesia.

Abdul Rahim Ba8217;asyir is a JI network leader,who has trained and led JI operatives in South and Southeast Asia since the late 1990s,and has provided facilitation and other support to al-Qaeda. As of mid-2009,Abdul Rahim was regarded as a senior JI leader with the ability to instigate violence.

He served from the late 1990s until 2002 as a leader of JI8217;s Al-Ghuraba cell in Karachi,Pakistan.

Muhammad Jibril Abdul Rahman,a senior member of JI,has been directly involved in obtaining funding for terror attacks and other JI-linked operational activities.

Jibril was a senior member of JI8217;s Pakistan-based Al-Ghuraba cell and had been carefully pre-selected for travel to Pakistan as a member of that cell.

8220;While in Pakistan,Jibril participated in military training and in 2001 was dispatched to Kashmir by JI member and Al-Ghuraba cell leader Gun Gun Rusman Gunawan,8221; the US Justice Department said.

A smaller organisation modelled after JI,Al-Ghuraba was formed with the approval of al-Qaeda and JI leader Hambali to groom the next generation of JI leaders,provide them with training in weapons and explosives and give them firsthand experience in militant operations.

Hambali also planned for Al-Ghuraba to become a cover entity for supporting the travel of JI operatives to obtain al-Qaeda training in Afghanistan.

While in Pakistan and Afghanistan from the late 1990s to mid-2002,Abdul Rahim also served as JI8217;s main contact with al-Qaeda and played a key facilitation role for al-Qaeda.

Abdul Rahim swore an oath of loyalty to Osama bin Laden and provided logistical,communications and media support to al-Qaeda in several instances.

Abdul Rahim also served the role of an al-Qaeda conduit for fighters in Pakistan and as an intermediary between Hambali and al-Qaeda,relaying messages between them.

According to the US Justice Department,Abdul Rahim was one of several al-Qaeda members who controlled an al-Qaeda media centre in Afghanistan and directed its activities. The media centre produced videos and photos for al-Qaeda propaganda.

In May 2001,Abdul Rahim was also present at a meeting of selected 9/11 hijackers in Afghanistan and likely participated in making of the videos of their last wills and testaments.

Upon returning to Indonesia in 2002,Abdul Rahim continued to provide support to al-Qaeda.

As of early 2004,Abdul Rahim was reportedly al-Qaeda8217;s only contact in Southeast Asia. He regularly passed information to a senior al-Qaeda operative known as Abu Talha until at least mid-2004.

8220;Abdul Rahim has also been involved in JI8217;s outreach to the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e Tayyiba LeT. Sometime after 1999,Abdul Rahim was tasked by JI member Zulkarnaen to run a madrassa in Pakistan and was encouraged to expand cooperation between JI and LeT through this madrassa,8221; the Justice Department said.