Central Java home to JI's HQ since 1999: Pastika<\/p>\n
Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali<\/p>\n
The regional Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group, reportedly
\nlinked to the Bali blasts, moved its headquarters in 1999 from
\nMalaysia to Surakarta, Central Java, where its alleged spiritual
\nleader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir lives, police said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The chief investigator of the Bali bombings, Insp. Gen. I Made
\nMangku Pastika, said the transfer of JI's base followed the 1999
\nreturn of Ba'asyir to Indonesia from Malaysia after the downfall
\nof former president Soeharto the year before.<\/p>\n
Documents found in a rented house in Surakarta showed that
\nBa'asyir, the 64-year-old cleric, played a role in the
\nclandestine group's operations in Indonesia, including the Bali
\nattacks that killed over 190 people last October, Pastika said.<\/p>\n
But Pastika said the police were still gathering more evidence
\nto declare Ba'asyir a suspect in the bombings. \"We have evidence
\nthat he was involved in the Bali tragedy, especially because he
\nis a leader of JI,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Based on JI's basic guidelines, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, as the
\nleader of the group, must have received reports of every jihad
\n(holy war) operation in the field,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Ba'asyir, who is in police custody for his alleged role in a
\nstring of church bombings in 2000 and a plot to kill President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri, has been called a possible suspect in the
\nBali blasts by police.<\/p>\n
JI is also believed to have been involved in the sectarian
\nviolence which rocked the Maluku islands and the Central Sulawesi
\ntown of Poso, Pastika said without giving further details.<\/p>\n
His comments will likely be followed up by relevant
\nauthorities to further intensify and widen their hunt for other
\nsupporters of the network in the country.<\/p>\n
Among the 16 suspects being detained in connection with the
\nBali blasts are several JI members, including Imam Samudra,
\nMukhlas, alias Ali Ghufron, and his younger brother Amrozi.<\/p>\n
Police have described Mukhlas as the controller of the Bali
\nattack and said he was JI's operations chief. Police said Samudra
\nwas the alleged field commander, while Amrozi was the man
\nresponsible for providing bomb-making materials and the van used
\nfor the blasts.<\/p>\n
Pastika said the police were searching for Zulkarnaen, alias
\nArif Sunarso or Daud, whom the chief investigator referred to as
\nBa'asyir's right-hand man who led JI's armed force, Laskari
\nIslamiyah.<\/p>\n
Another man on the list of 10 wanted suspects was Saad, alias
\nAchmad Roichan, who Pastika said knew JI's finances.<\/p>\n
Saad rented a house, adjacent to Ba'asyir's home, in the
\nhamlet of Laweyan in Surakarta, Pastika said, adding that it was
\nnot known whether the rented house was also used as JI's base.<\/p>\n
He said the other suspects who remain at large, including
\nalleged bombmaker Dul Matin, are believed to have more
\ninformation on JI's flow of funds and its operations in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Referring to intelligence reports, Pastika said the goal of JI
\nwas to establish a sovereign Islamic archipelago, covering
\nMalaysia, Indonesia, the southern Philippines, Thailand,
\nSingapore and southern Cambodia.<\/p>\n
The documents found in Surakarta also contained reports of the
\ntraining of militants at sites around the city, he said.<\/p>\n
In a related development, the police handed back on Thursday
\nAmrozi's case file to prosecutors who will outline the charges
\nmade against him.<\/p>\n
Sr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis, the spokesman for Pastika's
\ninvestigative team, said the police had added information to the
\n1,800-page case file after an initial review by prosecutors.
\nBefore it was returned to investigators, it contained 1,623 pages
\nof evidence.<\/p>\n
The additional information included testimonies from other
\nsuspects, particularly Amrozi's younger brother Ali Imron, who is
\nthe latest suspect to be taken into custody.<\/p>\n
Amrozi was the first suspect to be detained on Nov. 5. His
\narrest was considered the first major break in the probe into the
\ncountry's worst terrorist attack.<\/p>\n
He and other key suspects are expected to go on trial in
\nFebruary under antiterrorism laws that carry the death penalty.<\/p>\n
Zainuri said the police should have submitted Samudra's case
\nfile on Thursday to prosecutors, arguing that it was postponed
\nbecause the investigators had yet to complete its draft.<\/p>\n
Zainuri also said a man identified as Faturrahman, who was
\ngiven the explosives by Abdul Rauf -- another Bali blast suspect
\nwho was Samudra's alleged bodyguard -- has been arrested by
\npolice in Serang, Banten.<\/p>\n
However, Faturrahman was not among the 10 suspects wanted in
\nconnection with the Bali attacks, Lubis added.<\/p>",
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