In the past five years, regional security agencies have found that education and an intricate pattern of kinship have helped JI thrive in the face of many setbacks.

To begin with, many JI members forged firm friendships in the JI-affiliated Islamic boarding schools, known here as pesantren, which produced several of the region's top militants. These schools include the education centre run by cleric Abu Bakar Bashir in Ngruki in Central Java and the now-closed Lukman Nurhakim religious school in Malaysia's Johor state.

The Ngruki alumni, for example, include the likes of one-time jailed militant Abu Jibril, who security intelligence officials believe channelled money between Al-Qaeda and JI.

Another Ngruki alumnus was Asmar Latin Sani, the suicide bomber in the attack on the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in 2003, which killed 12 people and injured 150 others.

Those associated with the Lukman Nurhakim school were JI's top bomb-maker Azahari Husin, killed by security forces in November 2005; Abu Dujana, a senior JI operational chief whom Indonesian police arrested last month; and Noordin Top, who remains at large.

The bonds established in religious school among these men were tightened even more through kinship, either through having JI members who are also family members or marrying the sisters or daughters of their comrades-in-arms.

JI-related publishing companies, which have come to the fore in recent years, show up these ties.

They include Bursa al-Qowam, which is also involved in the distribution of herbal products and health drinks. It is controlled by Mr Hawin Murtadlo, the elder brother of Lutfi Hudaeroh, who was arrested by Indonesian police in July 2004 for his ties to Azahari.

Another publishing house, Aqwam Press, is run by wellknown JI sympathiser Bambang Sukirno, who published the book I Fight Terrorist by Imam Samudra, the master planner of the 2002 Bali bombing.

Mr Bambang's publishing outfit employs close associates of another known JI operative named Herlambang, who was arrested in late 2002 for harbouring several suspects of the Bali bombings.

Aqwam Press, controlled by Abu Jibril's son Muhd Jibril Abdul Rahman, also has links with other JI-related individuals.

One of its marketing agents is Ar-Rahmah Media, which specialises in producing sleek VCD documentaries on jihad, which to JI means holy war on anyone they see as opposed to Islam.

ljlopez@sph.com.sg