Will to act poses challenge to Indonesian president

The net is closing on an Islamic group in the hunt for the Bali bombers, but whether Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri can summon the will to shut it down is the question hanging over her leadership.

Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong did not mince words when it came to linking the Jemaah Islamiah - or Islamic Community - with the devastating weekend blast that killed more than 180 revellers in a Bali nightspot.

"The bomb blasts in Bali confirm what we have warned all along: that terrorists are shifting their theatre of operations to Southeast Asia," he said in a speech late on Monday.

"Terrorism is not a faraway problem. It is here at our doorstep."

Goh described as "very real and very serious" the threat posed by Jemaah Islamiah, a shadowy group believed to have links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda and to want to establish an Islamic caliphate in Southeast Asia.

Megawati has for many months ignored calls from neighbours and in particular from Singapore - which foiled several planned attacks late last year - to tackle what fellow regional leaders had identified as a terrorist network in her own country.

"This could be used as a turning point," said Wimar Witoelar, a prominent Indonesian newspaper columnist and political commentator, referring to the Bali bombings.

The tragedy confronts Megawati with an unprecedented challenge, mounting international pressure and an almost irresistible obligation to track down any possible suspects.

Those suspects could include the Jemaah Islamiah. "You don't have to be big to be bad," said one expert on security in Southeast Asia who declined to be identified.

The popularity of the group in the world's most populous Muslim country makes Megawati's task all the more difficult.

And she has long displayed a reluctance to tackle the Jemaah Islamiah.

What if the detention of the pivotal figure in the group, thin bespectacled cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, sparked protests from among an increasingly nationalistic populace, triggered instability in one of the most volatile nations in the region and were to bring down her government?

And how would she cope with charges that her government was behaving like a puppet of the United States?

Such criticisms are already being voiced by more radical Islamic figures in the sprawling and ethnically diverse archipelago. The arrival of an FBI team in Bali has only provided grist to their mill.

Weighing such concerns in the balance along with the pleas of her peers may have already concentrated Megawati's mind.

"I have a very strong suspicion that it is either an al Qaeda-directed operation or inspired by al Qaeda...(which) does have connections with cells that have been operating in Indonesia," Australian Prime Minister John Howard said.

"This is a subject on which we have expressed concern repeatedly to the Indonesian government and so have the Americans and others over a period of time."

Bashir has dismissed any connection to the bombings. Indonesia has taken a first step. Defence Minister Matori Abdul Djalil drew a connection on Monday between al Qaeda - blamed for the September 11 - and the attacks on the nightclubs, the world's the most deadly since suicide hijackers ploughed passenger airliners into the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.

"I am not afraid to say, though many have refused to say, that an al Qaeda network exists in Indonesia," he said. "I am convinced that there is a domestic link with al Qaeda."

Initial signs were that Megawati would not this time sit by.

"They have been pretty shaken by this frankly," the security expert said.

Indonesia has begun assembling a new intelligence structure and may even draft an anti-terrorism presidential decree before a long-delayed law can be passed.

"The government is moving much more rapidly on terrorism than it has up to now," said Sidney Jones, Indonesia director for the International Crisis Group.

And the search for an Indonesian operative who goes by the name Hambali, is linked to al Qaeda and believed to be the operational mastermind of Jemaah Islamiah will have moved into much higher gear.

Real action will be welcome news in Singapore, where Goh warned his people of more attacks.

"The JI (Jemaah Islamiah) is part of a larger network in our region, which has links with al Qaeda. The leaders of this JI regional network and the cells in some other countries are still active."

The chorus of voices raised against the Jemaah Islamiah extends well beyond Singapore.

Australia went further yesterday with a demand that the group should be listed by the United Nations as a terrorist organisation.

"There is, Mr Speaker, mounting evidence of al Qaeda involvement, together with Jemaah Islamiah, in the attack," Prime Minister John Howard told parliament.