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The three men on whom sanctions were imposed by the US Treasury yesterday are Umar Patek, Abdul Rahim Ba`asyir and Muhammad Jibril Abdul Rahman.
"These three men have demonstrated their commitment to violence," Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen said.
The actions against them are intended to disrupt their ability to access the international financial system to support their "deadly agendas," he said.
Announcing the sanctions against the three men, the US Treasury linked Jemaah Islamiya to other terror groups like al-Qaeda, LeT and Abu Sayyaf Group in southern Philippines.
Patek, a key member of JI, has planned and funded multiple JI terror attacks in the Philippines and Indonesia.
He has also trained operatives associated with the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and personally developed explosive devices for this Philippines-based outfit. He was detained in Pakistan in early 2011 and was recently extradited to Indonesia.
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-Qaeda. As of mid-2009, Abdul Rahim was regarded as a senior JI leader with the ability to instigate violence.
He served from the late 1990s until 2002 as a leader of JI`s Al-Ghuraba cell in Karachi, Pakistan.
Muhammad Jibril Abdul Rahman, a senior member of JI, has been directly involved in obtaining funding for terror attacks and other JI-linked operational activities.
Hambali also planned for Al-Ghuraba to become a cover entity for supporting the travel of JI operatives to obtain al-Qaeda training in Afghanistan.
While in Pakistan and Afghanistan from the late 1990s to mid-2002, Abdul Rahim also served as JI`s main contact with al-Qaeda and played a key facilitation role for al-Qaeda.
Abdul Rahim swore an oath of loyalty to Osama bin Laden and provided logistical, communications and media support to al-Qaeda in several instances.
Abdul Rahim also served the role of an al-Qaeda conduit for fighters in Pakistan and as an intermediary between Hambali and al-Qaeda, relaying messages between them.
According to the US Justice Department, Abdul Rahim was one of several al-Qaeda members who controlled an al-Qaeda media centre in Afghanistan and directed its activities. The media centre produced videos and photos for al-Qaeda propaganda.
In May 2001, Abdul Rahim was also present at a meeting of selected 9/11 hijackers in Afghanistan and likely participated in making of the videos of their last wills and testaments.
Upon returning to Indonesia in 2002, Abdul Rahim continued to provide support to al-Qaeda.
As of early 2004, Abdul Rahim was reportedly al-Qaeda`s only contact in Southeast Asia. He regularly passed information to a senior al-Qaeda 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 organisation 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," the Justice Department said.
