18 more JI members arrested<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The police reported more progress in their counter-terrorism
\nmeasures with the arrest of 18 more members of the regional
\nterror network Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), which will provide them
\nwith an opportunity to further investigate a series of terror
\nattacks in the past, including the bomb blasts in Bali and
\nMakassar.<\/p>\n
National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said here on
\nWednesday that 17 JI members, including 12 in Palu, capital of
\nCentral Sulawesi, were arrested last week while the remaining one
\nAbu Rusdan who reportedly replaced Abu Bakar Ba'asyir as JI
\nsupreme leader, was captured early on Wednesday at his home town
\nin Kudus, Central Java.<\/p>\n
Ba'asyir was arrested in October and is now facing charges for
\na variety of offenses connected to his work with JI at the
\nCentral Jakarta District Court.<\/p>\n
The 12 were identified as Saad alias Achmad Rohian,
\nFirmansyah, Aan Nazanudin, Nizam Chalid, Yusuf alias Fachri,
\nFauzan Arief, Sugeng, Joko Santoso, Mochtar Sutisno, Nono
\nMaryono, as well as two Malaysian citizens Nurmiswari, also
\ncalled Nurdin or Herman and Muhammad Ratin bin Nurdin alias
\nFirdiansyah, and were transferred to Jakarta from Palu on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
Sawad, Umar Besar and Hafidz were captured in their hiding
\nplace in Cileungsi in Bogor, West Java while the identity of the
\nremaining two were kept confidential pending further
\ninvestigation.<\/p>\n
\"Three of the 18 are suspected in their direct or indirect
\ninvolvement in the Bali blasts,\" he said, adding that the police
\nalso confiscated thousands of rounds of ammunition, dozens of
\nfire arms and other bomb materials for a possible plan to launch
\nother attacks somewhere in the country.<\/p>\n
The three --Sawad alias Sergio, Saad and Umar Besar-- were
\nthree of 30 suspects in Bali explosions and they will likely be
\nsent to Bali to undergo further investigation.<\/p>\n
\"Following the Bali bombing, we can not conclude that JI is
\nalready dead. Other JI members will likely continue their terror
\nattacks to fight for their goals,\" Da'i said<\/p>\n
Da'i however declined to reveal the terrorist group's possible
\nbombing targets, saying: \"That's how they work that they will
\nnever leave written evidence or maps describing their targets.\"<\/p>\n
The United Nations put JI on its official terrorist blacklist
\ndays after the Bali attacks on Oct. 12, 2002, which killed more
\nthan 200 people, mostly Australian, and wounded more than 320
\nothers. Investigators have reportedly found evidence of close
\nlinks between the Bali bombings and the Nov. 5, 2002 Makassar
\nblasts where three people were killed and dozens of others were
\ninjured at a McDonald's restaurant.<\/p>\n
Many believe that JI also has links to the Osama bin Laden-led
\nal-Qaeda network which was held responsible for the Sept. 11,
\n2001 tragedy in New York and Washington, in which more than 3,000
\npeople died.<\/p>\n
Police Detective Chief Comr. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng insisted
\nthat the police would investigate the 18 suspects for their
\nalleged involvement in terrorism in the past and they would be
\ncharged under the 2002 anti-terror Perpu (government regulation
\nin lieu of law).<\/p>\n
\"With the arrest of the 18 suspects, we will continue
\ndeveloping our investigations into all bomb blasts in the past,\"
\nhe said, adding that the police were still seeking many more of
\ntheir cohorts.<\/p>\n
He conceded that the police were questioning the new suspects
\nabout possible links between JI and Ba'asyir with the Bali and
\nMakassar blasts, the series of Christmas Eve bombings in 2000 and
\nanother series of bombs in Jakarta in 2001.<\/p>\n
Asked for further information about their involvement in the
\nOct. 12 attack, Erwin said that Nasir was holding two positions
\nin JI as a regional leader supervising Sabah, East Malaysia,
\nBrunei Darussalam, the southern Philippines and Kalimantan and
\nSulawesi in Indonesia, in addition to being a subregion leader
\n(Wakalah) of Sabah.<\/p>\n
\"Saad is believed to be involved in a series of bomb attacks
\nacross the country in 2000, including the one at the Philippines
\nembassy. Firdiansyah is also allegedly involved in the 2000
\nAtrium Plaza bombing,\" Erwin said.<\/p>\n
He added that the police were still hunting for seven more JI
\nmembers, including Dulmatin, Jhon Anshari, Hambali, Umar Kecil
\nPatek and Idris. The first two were assemblers of the explosives
\nused in Bali blasts<\/p>\n
He said the police seized from the suspects some 6,620 rounds
\nof ammunition, along with a magnum pistol, some homemade guns,
\nsome active low explosive bombs, and other bomb materials,
\nincluding 25 kg of sulfur, 15 kg of a potassium compound, 45
\nactive detonators, fertilizer and calcium powder.<\/p>\n
Previously the police arrested 15 of 24 suspects in the Bali
\nblasts and some of them were JI members, including Imam Samudra
\naka Abdul Azis, Amrozi, Ali Gufron aka Muklas, Hernianto aka
\nRudy, Andri Octavia aka Yudi, Junaedi aka Amin aka Engkong,Andi
\nHidayat aka Agus, Abdul Rauf aka Sam, Makmuri aka Muri, M Najib
\nNawawi, Ahmad Budi Wibowo, Herlambang aka Zaidin, Bambang Setiono
\naka Saeful aka Suroso, Masykur Abdul Kadir, Muhamad Musyafak aka
\nAbdul Hamid. Ten more suspects, including Ali Imron, are still
\nwaiting for the completion of their dossiers.<\/p>\n
The suspects were scheduled to stand trial by the end of this
\nmonth.<\/p>\n
The police in South Sulawesi have arrested 19 of 23 suspects
\nin the Makassar blasts and 13 will stand trial at the Makassar
\nDistrict Court in May.<\/p>\n
The police have also arrested Abdul Jabar who was allegedly
\ninvolved in the Atrium bombing and Mas Slamet Kastari, a suspect
\nin a 2000 bombing in Pekanbaru, Riau.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/18-more-ji-members-arrested-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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