JI suspects say Poso attacker is comrade: Da'i<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Detainees arrested for their roles in a string of bomb explosions
\nin the country have identified one of the dead attackers in Poso
\nregency, Central Sulawesi, as an accomplice, National Police
\nchief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said.<\/p>\n
Da'i told reporters here on Thursday that several suspects now
\nin police custody for their role in the Bali blast and JW
\nMarriott Hotel bombing identified one of the dead perpetrators as
\nMadong.<\/p>\n
\"However, according to their confessions, he (Madong) was not
\npart of their movement. Apparently, he acted on his own,\" Da'i
\nsaid, and that in Poso, Madong summoned would-be attackers and
\nbriefed them on operational tactics.<\/p>\n
Da'i did not mention who had identified the body as Madong.<\/p>\n
Police investigators have identified regional terrorist
\nnetwork Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) as being behind the Oct. 2003 Bali
\nbombings and the Aug. 5, 2003 JW Marriott Hotel terrorist attack.<\/p>\n
Over 40 people have been arrested and tried for their role in
\nthe Bali attacks that killed over 200 people, mostly foreigners.
\nThree of the key suspects have been sentenced to death.<\/p>\n
According to Tempo magazine, Madong was trained by Jamaah
\nIslamiyah's former Sulawesi head Mustafa, who is in police
\ncustody after he was apprehended in Bekasi, West Java, in July.<\/p>\n
Mustafa, whose last position was JI's Jakarta commander, was
\nthe one who trained Asmar Latin Sani, the alleged suicide bomber
\nin the Marriott attack.<\/p>\n
A fragile peace in Central Sulawesi was shattered early this
\nmonth when a group of masked gunmen attacked predominantly
\nChristian villages in Morowali and Poso, killing at least 13
\npeople.<\/p>\n
Following the attacks, police apprehended 16 suspects, shot
\ndead five others and are still hunting down two fugitives.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla has
\nsaid that there were possible links between the violent Southeast
\nAsian-based network JI and the incidents, citing the past
\npresence of JI training camps in the religiously divided area.<\/p>\n
Authorities have also said suspects in the renewed Poso
\nviolence would be charged under the Antiterrorism Law, because
\nthe attacks were possibly linked to JI.<\/p>\n
The United Nations has put JI on its blacklist of terrorist
\norganizations, obliging UN members to freeze bank accounts
\nassociated with the group and seize their assets.<\/p>\n
National Police deputy spokesman Sr. Commr. Zainuri Lubis said
\non Wednesday that the Poso attackers targeted their victims
\nrandomly, so their actions could be classified as terrorism.<\/p>\n
The attackers were found carrying explosives and firearms, had
\ndamaged private property, and caused the loss of human life, and
\nwould thus be punished using the Criminal Code, he said.<\/p>\n
\"From the way they acted, they have violated some articles in
\nthe Antiterrorism Law, therefore we will use that law as well as
\nthe Criminal Code,\" he told The Jakarta Post recently.<\/p>\n
Zainuri added that the attackers had created an environment of
\nfear, not only for locals, but also for the whole country. \"Fear
\nis the main objective of terrorism,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Poso regency had achieved a relative state of peace after the
\ngovernment brokered a peace accord between Muslim and Christian
\nleaders in December 2001 to end the two-year sectarian conflict
\nthat resulted in the deaths of at least 2,000 people since 2000.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ji-suspects-say-poso-attacker-is-comrade-dai-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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