The official demise of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam last month appeared strangely sudden despite its apparent projected inevitability. The LTTE was widely regarded as one of the most ruthless and professional terrorist entities in the world. Banned in 32 countries, the LTTE at its zenith had de facto control over large parts of Sri Lanka. The Tamil Tigers appeared so inextricably linked with Sri Lanka’s past and future that this apparent crumbling of the giant has opened up a wide range of hitherto unexplored opportunities for the Sri Lankan state in general and the global Tamil community in particular.

Despite being implicated for his involvement by the three convicted Bali bombers prior to their execution,
Abu Bakar Bashir, the spiritual head of Jemaa Islamiyah, is currently a free man in Indonesia. As the most populous Muslim nation in the world; the vast majority of Indonesians are secular, peace loving citizens. However the volatile extremist minority of a largely secular state, championed by “spiritual leaders” such as Bashir, raises the prospect of extremism translating into terrorism on a growing scale.

In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US, South Asia attracted world attention due to the extent and
spread of terrorist networks operating there. Besides the myriad indigenous groups present, the region is home to Al-Qaeda, currently located inside Pakistan’s autonomous tribal areas. The terrorist threats emanating from this region are of local, regional and global concern.

Many financial institutions are currently treading water in an ocean of economic uncertainty. They are having enough trouble staying afloat without having to worry about riptides, or worse yet undercurrents. Regrettably, the waves hitting the banks attempting to stay afloat are growing larger and more violent making it more difficult for those institutions to tread water. Consequently, the resulting riptides and undercurrents are gaining momentum and becoming extremely dangerous.  An insightful article by Dennis M Lormel.

This is the third report of a three-part series addressing the terrorist structures involved in the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.The first report provided an initial summary of the attacks with an emphasis on operational support. The second report examined the structure of Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD), the non-profit arm of Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LeT), the terrorist group believed to be responsible. This report addresses the vulnerabilities that LeT/JuD exploited in the private and public sectors. In addition, the article assesses whether JuD will survive the ban the UN imposed on it on 10 December 2008.

The November 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai underscored a central challenge in the global counterterrorism struggle:defeating broad terrorist support structures. This is the second of a three part series by John Solomon to address this fundamental and often controversial aspect of countering the financing of terrorism (CFT).