Alleged instigators of Lombok riots arrested

JAKARTA (JP): Police have detained two alleged provocateurs behind last week's rioting on the island of Lombok, National Police chief of detectives Maj. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Friday.

Questioning of the two people, identified as Isak Sesaki and Suad, is underway, Da'i said. Police are also quizzing three other people in connection with the unrest in the West Nusa Tenggara capital of Mataram, which left at least 10 churches burned and thousands seeking refuge on the neighboring island of Bali.

"One did it with speeches, the other sparked riots on streets," Da'i told reporters at the National Police Headquarters in South Jakarta.

He refused to identify the other three people under police scrutiny.

Police shot five alleged rioters and looters during four days of rioting between Monday and Thursday.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Muslim Workers Brotherhood (PPMI) chief Eggy Sudjana turned up on Friday for questioning at the police headquarters.

Speaking before questioning after the Friday prayers, Eggy said he took his summons by the police positively. But he complained about the police's discrimination.

"The only thing I protest is the injustice toward my Muslim brothers, who, like myself, are feeling the pressure of questioning," Eggy told reporters.

"My friend Al Chaedar was arrested as soon as he got off a flight from Malaysia this (Friday) morning by the police."

Eggy was unaware that Al Chaedar was not arrested by National Police detectives, but city police detectives, for his alleged role in provoking thousands of people at a rally at Monas square in Central Jakarta recently.

"The Christians are allowed to kill and carry weapons but they are never caught. Why are Romo (Father) Sandyawan or (former finance minister) Frans Seda never caught? My questioning will invite fresh anger and there will be fierce retaliation."

Eggy said, however, he showed up at the National Police Headquarters to prove to detectives that "he was never seen in Lombok".

"If I was never seen there, how could I provoke anything? How can I make speeches, when I was never seen there?"

He later confessed that he had been invited to Mataram by representatives of PPMI's chapter in the province.

"But, I arrived late ... after the riots erupted. I wasn't there before or during the rioting. If I knew who the rioters were, I would have killed them myself," Eggy laughingly said.

"I wasn't even in Mataram but in Senggigi ... that's 12 kilometers away from Mataram. I was staying there at a hotel. I was with Taufik Hidayat ... you can ask him," he said, referring to a former chairman of the Association of Muslim Students (HMI).

Eggy added that if the country really wanted to punish provocateurs, then President Abdurrahman Wahid should "come back home and question (former president) Soeharto."

"Gus Dur himself is a provocateur ... people say 'jihad'. He makes fun of the word and says 'jahit'(to sew). How can he?"

Da'i also said that after questioning five witnesses in connection with the planting of a bomb at Yogyakarta's grand mosque, police found that the motive "was to destroy".

"The bomb-makers used TNT (the flammable toxic compound trinitrotoluene) and a detonator. Whoever planted the bomb knew what he was doing ... he's an expert. There is a possibility that individuals from the Indonesian Army (TNI) are involved," Da'i said.

The security authorities in the court city urged the committee behind a mass prayer planned for Sunday to cancel the gathering to avoid possible unrest triggered by the finding of the bomb.

"We think it would be best to delay the mass gathering so things calm down first," Pamungkas Military Command chief Col. Bambang Suherman said.

The gathering, which, it is predicted, will involve around 1,000 Muslims, could possibly arouse anger, Bambang told the committee. (44/ylt/edt)