New leadership for al-Qaida cell
SINGAPORE Singapore says the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (jeh-MAH' is-lah-MEE'-uh) -- or J-I -- has replenished its leadership and could be planning fresh attacks. The group is linked to the al-Qaida network and has been blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people.
Singapore has arrested more than 30 J-I suspects accused of planning to blow up the U-S Embassy, a U-S Navy base and other Western targets in the country.
A senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore says there is special concern J-I could link up with pirates.
Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are on the Malacca Straits. Tankers carrying half the world's oil use that sea lane linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
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