Press Releases

Treasury Sanctions Three Senior Members of the Jemaah Islamiya Terrorist Network

(Archived Content)

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the designation of Umar Patek, Abdul Rahim Ba’asyir and Muhammad Jibril Abdul Rahman, three senior members of Jemaah Islamiya (JI), the Southeast Asia-based designated terrorist network with links to al-Qa’ida.
 
“These three men have demonstrated their commitment to violence,” said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen. “Today’s actions are intended to disrupt their ability to access the international financial system to support their deadly agendas.”
 
Today’s designations were taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which targets for sanctions terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. As a result of today’s action, U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions with these individuals, and assets they may hold under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen.
 
Umar Patek
Umar Patek is a senior member of the JI network and has planned and funded multiple JI terrorist attacks in the Philippines and Indonesia. Patek has also trained operatives associated with the terrorist organization the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and personally developed explosive devices for this Philippines-based organization. He was detained in Pakistan in early 2011 and was recently extradited from Pakistan to Indonesia.  
 
As of early 2010, Patek was considered to be one of the JI network’s top leaders. In his capacity as a leader of the JI network in Mindanao, the Philippines, Patek received approximately $29,000 to cover his expenses and all of his JI group’s militant activities in the Southern Philippines. Patek obtained funding for operations that were to include a large-scale car bombing in metropolitan Manila, attacks on Philippine military camps in Mindanao and assassinations of prominent foreigners.
 
In 2002, Patek was involved in planning and preparing for the October 2002 Bali attacks. A few weeks before the blasts, Patek attended the meeting in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia, where participants — including now deceased JI leaders Dulmatin, Samudra and Mukhlas — agreed to execute the Bali bombings. Patek also was personally involved in assembling the van bomb and explosives used in the Bali attack.
 
As of mid-2007, Patek and JI leader Dulmatin were teaching ASG members bomb-making techniques including training in Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). The IEDs were intended to block Armed Forces of Philippine troops who might be in pursuit of JI and the ASG. As of early 2006, Patek had built bombs for the ASG using 60 mm mortar bombs.
 
Abdul Rahim Ba’asyir (Abdul Rahim)
Abdul Rahim Ba’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-Qa’ida. As of mid-2009, Abdul Rahim was regarded as a senior JI leader with the ability to instigate violence. 
 
In 2005, Abdul Rahim was selected as the leader of JI’s administrative region, Wakalah, in central Java, Indonesia. As such, Abdul Rahim was responsible for overseeing JI cells, had full knowledge of certain JI operations in Indonesia in 2005 and 2006 and maintained close relations with clandestine elements of JI in 2007.
 
Abdul Rahim served from the late 1990s until 2002 as a leader of JI’s Al-Ghuraba cell in Karachi, Pakistan. A smaller organization modeled after JI, Al-Ghuraba was formed with the approval of al-Qa’ida 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-Qa’ida training in Afghanistan. 
 
Abdul Rahim was appointed by Hambali to lead JI’s Al-Ghuraba cell because Abdul Rahim was a recognized figure within JI and al-Qa’ida. As the Al-Ghuraba leader, Abdul Rahim indoctrinated students to become future JI leaders and instructed that Al-Ghuraba cell members should kill Americans at every opportunity. Abdul Rahim also taught them how to carry out a hijacking operation. Hambali was designated by the United States pursuant to E.O. 13224 and added to the United Nations (UN) 1267 Committee’s list in January 2003.
 
While in Pakistan and Afghanistan from the late 1990s to mid-2002, Abdul Rahim also served as JI’s main contact with al-Qa’ida and played a key facilitation role for al-Qa’ida. Abdul Rahim swore an oath of loyalty to Usama bin Laden and provided logistical, communications and media support to al-Qa’ida in several instances. Abdul Rahim also served the role of an al-Qa’ida conduit for fighters in Pakistan and as an intermediary between Hambali and al-Qa’ida, relaying messages between them.
 
Abdul Rahim was one of several al-Qa’ida members who controlled an al-Qa’ida media center in Afghanistan and directed its activities. The media center produced videos and photos for al-Qa’ida propaganda. In May 2001, Abdul Rahim was also present at a meeting of selected 9/11 hijackers in Afghanistan and likely participated in making the videos of their last wills and testaments. Upon returning to Indonesia in 2002, Abdul Rahim continued to provide support for al-Qa’ida. As of early 2004, Abdul Rahim was reportedly al-Qa’ida’s only contact in Southeast Asia. Abdul Rahim regularly passed information to a senior al-Qa’ida operative known as Abu Talha until at least mid-2004.
 
Abdul Rahim has also been involved in JI's outreach to the Pakistan-based terrorist organization 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. Zulkarnaen was designated by the United States pursuant to E.O. 13224 and added to the UN 1267 Committee’s list in May 2005.
 
Muhammad Jibril Abdul Rahman (Jibril)
Muhammad Jibril Abdul Rahman is a senior member of the JI network and has been directly involved in obtaining funding for terrorist attacks and other JI-linked operational activities. Jibril has solicited funds on behalf of now-deceased senior JI member Noordin Mohammad Top, who led the JI faction that conducted the group's July 2009 attacks, which killed seven people and wounded approximately 50 others in Jakarta. At a meeting with Top and Saefudin Zuhri, the now deceased main plotter of the July 2009 bombings, Jibril agreed to provide Top with funding for terrorist operations. He then contacted his brother to request that he arrange for approximately $10,000 in cash to be passed to Top. 
 
A letter found on Top’s laptop written by Zuhri identified Jibril as the connection between Top’s network and foreigners providing funding.
 
As of late 2008, Jibril was working on behalf of JI member Imam Samudra and the other JI Bali bombers. Samudra was executed by a firing squad in Indonesia in November 2008 for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people.
 
Jibril was a senior member of JI’s Pakistan-based Al-Ghuraba cell and had been carefully preselected for travel to Pakistan as a member of that cell. 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. Gunawan was designated by the U.S. pursuant to E.O. 13224 and added to the UN 1267 Committee’s list in April 2006. Jibril returned to Pakistan in 2007, where he met with al-Qa’ida and Taliban personnel.
 
He was sentenced in Indonesia to five years in jail in June 2010 for concealing information about terrorist crimes in connection with the July 2009 attacks in Jakarta and for falsifying documents. 
 
Identifying Information:
 
Individual:                 Abdul Rahim Ba’asyir
AKA:                          Abdul Rahim Bashir
AKA:                          'Abd Al-Rahim Ba’asyir
AKA:                          'Abd Al-Rahim Bashir
AKA:                          Abdurrahim Ba’asyir
AKA:                          Abdurrahim Bashir
AKA:                          Abdul Rachim Ba’asyir
AKA:                          Abdul Rachim Bashir
AKA:                          Abdul Rochim Ba’asyir
AKA:                          Abdul Rochim Bashir
AKA:                          Abdurochim Ba’asyir
AKA:                          Abdurochim Bashir
AKA:                          Abdurrochim Ba’asyir
AKA:                          Abdurrochim Bashir
AKA:                          Abdurrahman Ba’asyir
AKA:                          Abdurrahman Bashir
DOB:                         November 16, 1977
Alt DOB:                    November 16, 1974
POB:                          Solo, Indonesia
Alt POB:                     Sukoharjo, Central Java, Indonesia
 
Individual:                 Muhammad Jibril Abdul Rahman
AKA:                          Mohammad Jibril Abdurrahman
AKA:                          Muhammad Jibriel Abdul Rahman
AKA:                          Mohammad Jibriel Abdurrahman
AKA:                          Muhamad Ricky Ardhan
AKA:                          Muhammad Ricky Ardhan bin Muhammad Iqbal
AKA:                          Muhammad Ricky Ardhan bin Abu Jibril
AKA:                          Muhammad Yunus
AKA:                          Heris Syah
DOB:                         May 28, 1984
Alt DOB:                    December 3, 1979
Alt. DOB:                   August 8, 1980
Alt. DOB:                   March 3, 1979
POB:                          East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
Passport No.:          S335026, Indonesian
ID No.:                       2181558
National ID Card No.: 3219222002.2181558
Address:                   J1. M Saidi RT 010 RW 001 Pesanggrahan, South Petukangan, South Jakarta, Indonesia
Alt Address:             Jl. Nakula of Witana Harja Complex, Block C, Pamulang, Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia
 
Individual:                 Umar Patek
AKA:                          Omar Patek
AKA:                          Umar Kecil
AKA:                          Pa’tek
AKA:                          Pak Taek
AKA:                          Umangis Mike
AKA:                          Al Abu Syekh Al Zacky
DOB:                        1970
POB:                         Central Java, Indonesia ​