Understanding al-Qaeda and Its Network in Southeast Asia

Al-Qaeda al-Sulbah—now renamed al-Qaeda al-Jihad—is the first multinational terrorist group of the twenty-first century. While past and present terrorist groups recruited from one single nationality and limited their campaigns to recover one single territory, ¹ al-Qaeda is waging a global jihad with the United States of America and its allies and friends as its primary enemy. ² Through its umbrella organization—the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and the Crusaders, al-Qaeda is waging multiple campaigns both against the West and Muslim regimes friendly to the West. Prior to the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan in October 2001, al-Qaeda enjoyed a core force of 3,000–4,000 members ³ and linkages with two dozen Islamist groups worldwide such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Southeast Asia, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) in Central Asia, and the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) in North Africa. ⁴