'Militant groups recruit new members, plan more attacks'<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Wednesday that
\nmilitant groups continued to recruit new members and warned of
\nmore terror attacks in the country.<\/p>\n
\"There are new recruits in these groups. We have yet to find
\nout entirely about their recruitment system, but for sure there
\nare new members of the group,\" Da'i said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He cited as examples several new names involved in the recent
\nJW Marriott Hotel bombing which were not mentioned as part of the
\ngroup responsible for the Oct. 12 Bali bombings last year.<\/p>\n
Da'i said names such as Asmar, who carried out the suicide
\nbomb at the Marriott attack, and Tohir, who is still on the run,
\nare indications of the presence of new recruits in the group.<\/p>\n
\"These are for us indications that they continue to recruit
\nnew militants willing to commit acts of terror,\" the police chief
\nsaid after attending a ceremony marking the Sept. 30, 1965 coup,
\nwhich brought then Maj. Gen. Soeharto to power.<\/p>\n
Regional terrorist network Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) has been
\nblamed for both last year's Bali bombings, which killed at least
\n202 people and injured over 300 others, and the Marriott attack
\nlast month that killed at least 12 people.<\/p>\n
Over 40 people had been arrested for their alleged role in the
\nterrorist attacks, of whom two had been sentenced to death.<\/p>\n
Police have also arrested dozens of activists suspected of
\nplanning terrorist attacks in the past few weeks.<\/p>\n
Citing an unidentified Indonesian intelligence official,
\nSingapore's Sunday Times reported over the weekend that 12 \"new
\ngeneration\" JI reactionaries intended to strike hotels in
\nJakarta, Surabaya and Medan, as well as residential areas with
\nlarge expatriate communities across the country.<\/p>\n
Da'i said there were five fugitives who still were at large
\nand posed threats to the security of the country.<\/p>\n
He further warned that these fugitives also had assembled
\nbombs with them that could be used in the coming months.<\/p>\n
\"We continue to stay on alert because we believe that these
\nmen carry bombs with them and their targets have always been big
\ncities,\" Da'i added.<\/p>\n
Alluding to the investigation team sent to Pakistan to
\nquestion six detained Indonesian students, including Rusman
\nGunawan, the brother of JI leader Riduan Isamuddin alias Hambali,
\nDa'i said the police would like to extra information on Hambali
\nfrom his brother.<\/p>\n
\"We only know that Rusman Gunawan communicates with his
\nbrother Hambali and we would like to find out if he knew anything
\nabout Hambali's activities since 2000,\" the police chief said.<\/p>\n
The team, consisting of two policemen, a diplomat and one
\nofficial from the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), left for
\nKarachi, Pakistan on Tuesday to meet with the arrested JI
\nsuspects.<\/p>\n
\"We also would like to ensure that they receive proper
\ntreatment during the legal proceedings and can be freed should
\nthere be no solid grounds to establish their involvement in
\nterror groups,\" Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said
\non Wednesday.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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