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| | Four Corners - 28/10/2002: Tentacles of Terror: Al Qaeda’s Southeast Asian Network (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-13) |
 | | Though every state in Southeast Asia has a Muslim population, ranging from 5 percent of the Philippines to Indonesia, whose 85 percent population of Muslims makes it the largest Muslim country in the world, the fact is the region has always been considered the Islamic periphery. |
 | | By linking their domestic struggles with an international network, the leaders of these groups were able to pool and share resources, conduct joint training, assist each other in weapons and explosives procurement, identity laundering and financial transfers. |
 | | Third, Southeast Asian states were what I term "countries of convenience" for terrorists: with tourist-friendly and minimal visa requirements, lax financial oversights, well established informal remittance systems for overseas workers, porous borders, often weak central government control, endemic government corruption, and a vast supply of illicit arms. |
| www.abc.net.au /4corners/stories/s711740.htm (4712 words) |
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