Police examine role of suspected S'pore JI leader<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Police said on Tuesday that they were questioning the suspected
\nleader of the Singapore branch of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) for
\npossible involvement in other "incidents" in Indonesia, while
\nadding that they had no plan to extradite him.<\/p>\n
An Indonesian with Singapore citizenship, Mas Selamet Kastari,
\nwas arrested for carrying a fake passport and identification card
\non Bintan island in Riau on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Police Detective Chief Comr. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng said Selamet
\nwas in detention for violating immigration rules only, for the
\nmoment.<\/p>\n
However, he said, a police team was dispatched to Riau for an
\ninitial look at possible ties to alleged JI members here.<\/p>\n
"The plan is that once we've concluded our probe in Riau, he
\nwill be immediately sent to our headquarters (in Jakarta) for an
\nintensive investigation," Erwin told reporters. "Because we will
\ntry to expand the case in order to see whether he was involved in
\nother incidents in Indonesia."<\/p>\n
So far 29 suspects have been arrested in connection with the
\nBali bombing which killed more than 190 people, mainly foreign
\ntourists, on Oct. 12 last year.<\/p>\n
Over the last week, new evidence surfaced supporting claims
\nthat the bombing was the work of JI -- a largely underground
\ngroup operating in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.<\/p>\n
According to Singapore, Selamet is leading the JI branch
\nthere. He is a fugitive in Singapore, where he allegedly planned
\nto crash an airplane into Changi international airport and blow
\nup U.S. and Britain interests in the city-state.<\/p>\n
Singapore cracked down on suspected JI members a few months
\nafter the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The alleged planned strikes
\non the city-state never materialized.<\/p>\n
Selamet has reportedly been in Indonesia since early 2002.<\/p>\n
"We don't know what his (Selamet) activities are in Indonesia,
\nor whether his presence in Batam is connected to JI activities.
\nThat's why we need to interrogate him," Erwin said, referring to
\nthe industrial estate island about 15 minutes south of Singapore.<\/p>\n
He said intelligence reports showed that he had visited the
\nEast Java town Sidoarjo and Bali. But neither the purpose nor the
\ntime of these visits were known, he added.<\/p>\n
Police arrested Selamet in Tanjung Pinang, a port city in
\nBintan, where he planned to meet two Singaporeans.<\/p>\n
The meeting never took place, and Erwin could not yet say who
\nhe was waiting for.<\/p>\n
He said they also captured the people who forged Selamet's
\npassport and identification card, for which he paid Rp 2 million
\n(about US$224).<\/p>\n
Police arrested Selamet following a tip off, known as a red
\nnotice, from Interpol. But it remains unclear whether police will
\ndeport him.<\/p>\n
Government officials here have long complained about Singapore
\ndragging its feet on an extradition agreement, accusing the city-
\nstate of benefiting from Indonesian fugitive tycoons hoarding
\ntheir wealth in Singaporean banks.<\/p>\n
"There is a possibility (of deportation) although we don't
\nhave an extradition agreement," said the man in charge of
\ninvestigating the Bali attacks, Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika.<\/p>\n
Selamet's arrest would also signal that Southeast Asian
\ncountries need to speed up in uniting the region under an anti-
\nterror pact. Police have already named four Malaysian suspects in
\nthe bombing, three of whom remain at large.<\/p>\n
"Selamet's arrest is significant to uncover the JI network in
\nIndonesia since he's an important figure at JI. I am sure of
\nthat," said Pastika.<\/p>\n
Recent confessions from key suspects have increased suspicions
\nthat the bombing was a JI operation entirely rather than a group
\nof people with ties to the group.<\/p>\n
Police have widened the investigation to include JI's alleged
\nspiritual leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, a Muslim cleric who leads
\nthe Ngukri Islamic boarding school in Surakarta, Central Java.<\/p>\n
According to police, key suspects claimed Ba'asyir gave his
\nblessing to the bombing and said they met him before and after
\nthe bombing.<\/p>\n
Ba'asyir has denied these charges and police now plan to
\nconfront him with the suspects to cross check their statements.<\/p>",
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