Another Ngruki alumni in hot seat<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A Muslim cleric has revealed that one of two Indonesians arrested
\nin the Philippines and charged with terrorism was a former
\nstudent at Al Mukmin Ngruki Islamic Boarding School in Surakarta.<\/p>\n
The person in question, Mohammed Yusop Karim Faiz, had studied
\nthere for four years, although he did not finish high school,
\nsaid Sholeh Ibrahim, the senior cleric at the boarding school,
\nwhich was founded by terror suspect Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.<\/p>\n
Faiz was arrested along with another Indonesian, Mohammad
\nNasir Hamid, in the southern city of Zamboanga in December for
\nalleged possession of explosives and an apparent plan to attack
\npublic facilities in the neighboring country.<\/p>\n
However, the arrest of the two Indonesians, who have also been
\naccused of being members of the regional terror group Jamaah
\nIslamiyah (JI), was only made public last week.<\/p>\n
Sholeh said that Faiz started his studies at Al Mukmin
\nNgruki's junior high school in 1990 and completed junior high in
\n1994. He continued to study in the high school but dropped out
\nafter the first year in 1995. \"I don't know where he went to
\nstudy after he left this school,\" Sholeh said, quoted by Antara
\nnews agency as saying.<\/p>\n
From the information given by his family and local police,
\nFaiz left his hometown in Klaten, Central Java in 2001 and later
\nenrolled at the Ibnu Sa'ud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
\nDuring his studies there, he went home to visit his family twice
\nin 2002 and again in January 2003. \"That was his last contact
\nwith the family. After that, the family lost track of his
\nwhereabouts and all of the sudden they were told that Faiz was
\narrested in the Philippines,\" a police officer in Klaten said.<\/p>\n
Faiz, whose birth name was Muhammad Saifudin, is the youngest
\nson of Basri and Sa'adah.<\/p>\n
According to Thohir Widjaja, the head of the general affairs
\noffice in Tempursari village, Faiz is also known to have a twin
\nbrother named Muhammad Nurrudin, but the brother's whereabouts is
\nalso unknown, while some people say that Nurrudin died as a \"holy
\nwarrior\" fighting Christians in Ambon. Oddly, Faiz's five other
\nsiblings have also lost contact with family and friends.<\/p>\n
Although the Filipino authorities said that Faiz and Nasir
\nHamid were working together with the local terror group -- Abu
\nSayyaf -- to plan attacks in the Philippines, the Indonesian
\npolice so far claim they know nothing about any connection
\nbetween the two suspects to Indonesian terror attacks in the last
\nfew years.<\/p>\n
The Al Mukmin Ngruki Islamic Boarding School has been in the
\nspotlight for the past few years after several of its students
\nwere arrested for or accused of terrorism. Several former Ngruki
\nstudents, including Amrozi for example, were convicted for their
\nrespective roles in the Bali bombing in October 2002. Some of the
\nformer students received long jail sentence, and others are on
\ndeath row. That attack claimed the lives of over 200 people.<\/p>\n
Not only the students, but the founder of the school, Abu
\nBakar Ba'asyir, has also been charged with have a role in terror
\nactivities. After being acquitted last year, Ba'asyir was
\nrearrested and put back on trial for allegedly leading his JI
\nfollowers to perpetrate the Bali bombings and a deadly bomb
\nattack on the Jakarta's Marriott hotel.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/another-ngruki-alumni-in-hot-seat-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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