Central Java home to JI's HQ since 1999: Pastika

Central Java home to JI's HQ since 1999: Pastika

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

The regional Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group, reportedly
linked to the Bali blasts, moved its headquarters in 1999 from
Malaysia to Surakarta, Central Java, where its alleged spiritual
leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir lives, police said on Thursday.

The chief investigator of the Bali bombings, Insp. Gen. I Made
Mangku Pastika, said the transfer of JI's base followed the 1999
return of Ba'asyir to Indonesia from Malaysia after the downfall
of former president Soeharto the year before.

Documents found in a rented house in Surakarta showed that
Ba'asyir, the 64-year-old cleric, played a role in the
clandestine group's operations in Indonesia, including the Bali
attacks that killed over 190 people last October, Pastika said.

But Pastika said the police were still gathering more evidence
to declare Ba'asyir a suspect in the bombings. "We have evidence
that he was involved in the Bali tragedy, especially because he
is a leader of JI," he said.

"Based on JI's basic guidelines, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, as the
leader of the group, must have received reports of every jihad
(holy war) operation in the field," he said.

Ba'asyir, who is in police custody for his alleged role in a
string of church bombings in 2000 and a plot to kill President
Megawati Soekarnoputri, has been called a possible suspect in the
Bali blasts by police.

JI is also believed to have been involved in the sectarian
violence which rocked the Maluku islands and the Central Sulawesi
town of Poso, Pastika said without giving further details.

His comments will likely be followed up by relevant
authorities to further intensify and widen their hunt for other
supporters of the network in the country.

Among the 16 suspects being detained in connection with the
Bali blasts are several JI members, including Imam Samudra,
Mukhlas, alias Ali Ghufron, and his younger brother Amrozi.

Police have described Mukhlas as the controller of the Bali
attack and said he was JI's operations chief. Police said Samudra
was the alleged field commander, while Amrozi was the man
responsible for providing bomb-making materials and the van used
for the blasts.

Pastika said the police were searching for Zulkarnaen, alias
Arif Sunarso or Daud, whom the chief investigator referred to as
Ba'asyir's right-hand man who led JI's armed force, Laskari
Islamiyah.

Another man on the list of 10 wanted suspects was Saad, alias
Achmad Roichan, who Pastika said knew JI's finances.

Saad rented a house, adjacent to Ba'asyir's home, in the
hamlet of Laweyan in Surakarta, Pastika said, adding that it was
not known whether the rented house was also used as JI's base.

He said the other suspects who remain at large, including
alleged bombmaker Dul Matin, are believed to have more
information on JI's flow of funds and its operations in
Indonesia.

Referring to intelligence reports, Pastika said the goal of JI
was to establish a sovereign Islamic archipelago, covering
Malaysia, Indonesia, the southern Philippines, Thailand,
Singapore and southern Cambodia.

The documents found in Surakarta also contained reports of the
training of militants at sites around the city, he said.

In a related development, the police handed back on Thursday
Amrozi's case file to prosecutors who will outline the charges
made against him.

Sr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis, the spokesman for Pastika's
investigative team, said the police had added information to the
1,800-page case file after an initial review by prosecutors.
Before it was returned to investigators, it contained 1,623 pages
of evidence.

The additional information included testimonies from other
suspects, particularly Amrozi's younger brother Ali Imron, who is
the latest suspect to be taken into custody.

Amrozi was the first suspect to be detained on Nov. 5. His
arrest was considered the first major break in the probe into the
country's worst terrorist attack.

He and other key suspects are expected to go on trial in
February under antiterrorism laws that carry the death penalty.

Zainuri said the police should have submitted Samudra's case
file on Thursday to prosecutors, arguing that it was postponed
because the investigators had yet to complete its draft.

Zainuri also said a man identified as Faturrahman, who was
given the explosives by Abdul Rauf -- another Bali blast suspect
who was Samudra's alleged bodyguard -- has been arrested by
police in Serang, Banten.

However, Faturrahman was not among the 10 suspects wanted in
connection with the Bali attacks, Lubis added.