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JAKARTA: Anti-terrorism experts have warned of the dangers posed by extremist fugitives in the region.
The International Crisis Group (ICG) said these fugitives were providing charismatic leadership and turning non-violent Muslims into would-be bombers.
In its latest report, the ICG called on Indonesian authorities to monitor dozens of religious schools in the country which have become a refuge for extremists and a hub for them to network.
Singaporean Mohd Hassan Saynudin was the ring-leader of a 10-member terror cell dubbed the Palembang Group in Sumatra, Indonesia.
He was recently sentenced to 18 years in jail by an Indonesian court for his role in killing a Christian teacher and plotting to attack Westerners in Indonesia.
Nine other Indonesians in the group were each jailed between four and 12 years.
The ICG highlighted the critical role extremist fugitives play in radicalising non-violent Muslims to carry out attacks.
Sydney Jones, Senior Advisor of the International Crisis Group, said: "I think some of the fugitives who are wanted by the police for extremist acts in the past can provide that kind of leadership. And I think it is important to remember that may be 20 people still at large have been responsible for serious violence in the past."
Mohd Hassan and another Singaporean Mas Selamat Kastari were members of the Jemaah Islamiyah who fled Singapore in 2001 following a security dragnet and eventually took refuge in Indonesia.
ICG believes a number of religious schools are instrumental in keeping the JI network alive, even though the group has been crippled by recent arrests.
Mr Sydney added: "I think one thing is to monitor these schools who we know have links to the JI organisation. This doesn't mean closing them. It means keeping an eye on them because one of the lessons from Palembang is that it is at these schools where extremist frequently come into contact with people who are otherwise non-violent. So they become places of refuge and meeting places and hubs of communication. It is not so much what these schools teach. It is who comes to visit them."
The report also noted that the Palembang group could have been detected earlier if the Indonesian police had better investigative skills and that the group could have inflicted more serious damage if they were better trained and had better luck.
The ICG also warned that despite the recent arrests, the threat from the JI network remains.
Members of the terror group are closely bonded by family links, marriages, business and schools which are not easy to break apart. - CNA/vm/de
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