Banda Aceh : From the safety of a forest camp, a commander of a new Indonesian militant group looks into a camera and ridicules the notorious extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah: "They are not violent enough, come and join us," he shouts, an automatic rifle in one hand.
The emergence of the previously unknown group calling itself Al Qaida in Aceh shows how Southeast Asian militants are adapting even amid a Western-funded crackdown that began following the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings and has taken out scores of top leaders.
The group's criticism of Jemaah Islamiyah is further evidence of the split in Indonesian extremist networks between militants supporting Al Qaida-style attacks inside the country and those who believe such attacks hurt the longer-term aim of establishing a Muslim state in Southeast Asia.
The speech is contained on a 75-minute training, recruitment and propaganda video obtained from a person not affiliated with the militant group.
It contains scenes of about 15 militants exercising on monkey bars, shooting automatic weapons and preaching in a makeshift camp in the western province of Aceh that was raided last month by anti-terrorist police.
It is interspersed with old clips of Osama Bin Laden urging violent jihad, or holy war, and scenes of the men eating fish and rice together from a communal pot, shouting as they march through the camp and bathing in a river.
Part or all of the video briefly appeared on a militant-linked blog on the internet, released by the militants soon after the camp was raided, the first documented case of a terrorist training camp in Indonesia for five years.
Weapons
"To all those in JI, I tell you. You don't fight jihad with the pen or in a prayer cap and sarong," said the commander in a hoarse voice as he sat cross-legged under a canvas sheet.
"No, you fight jihad with weapons. Before your hair goes grey with age, join us!"
The commander's face, along with those of other people in the video, are blurred by an editor. At one point, a militant tells the cameraman to avoid showing the men.
Despite the name, it is far from clear whether the new group has direct links to Al Qaida or took the name as a mark of allegiance. In the past, Bin Laden's network has funded attacks in Indonesia, and in the 1990s hosted scores of militants at camps in Afghanistan. Most analysts have said such contacts have ended.
Rita Katz, head of the US-based SITE Intelligence Group that monitors Islamist militant messages online, said Al Qaida in Aceh "looks pretty new".
Katz said SITE has not seen any evidence the group has a connection to Al Qaida. However, "the group's propaganda clearly shows that they have been inspired and motivated by Bin Laden's ideology, as they repeatedly used quotes from his speeches in their release", she said.
