Da'i links Poso gunmen linked to Marriott bombing
Irvan NR, The Jakarta Post, Poso, Central Sulawesi
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said the perpetrators of the recent attacks that killed 13 in the Central Sulawesi towns of Poso and Morowali might have links to the bombers of the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, but stopped short of stating they were connected to Jamaah Islamiyah (JI).
Da'i refused to say that they were members of the al-Qaeda- linked group, although he said several suspects in the hotel bombing had admitted they knew the gunmen who raided the predominantly Christian villages in mid-October.
The police chief said the suspects in the hotel bombing admitted that they had worked together on other attacks in the country.
"We will follow up on this information to find out whether they just happened to meet and know each other or are part of the same group implicated in the attacks," Da'i said as quoted by Antara on Friday night as he was making a stopover in Makassar en route to Poso.
Traveling with Da'i was Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, who in 2001 brokered peace talks to end the religiously motivated bloodletting in Poso, which claimed some 2,000 lives.
Kalla earlier said he suspected that last month's attacks on Christians in Sulawesi were the handy work of JI, which has been put on the U.N.'s list of outlawed terrorist groups.
JI is believed to have masterminded the Oct. 12, 2002 bombings in Bali, which killed 202 people, and the Aug. 5, 2003 hotel blast that left 12 people killed.
Kalla and Da'i held a meeting with some 200 community figures in Poso on Saturday to encourage local residents to provide necessary information that could help authorities uncover the group's network, find possible training camps and catch five more suspects still at large.
Police released the sketches of the five men on the run, and said they were suspicious that one of them, identified as Musa, might be the man also known as Dulmatin, who is wanted for his role in the Bali bombings.
Da'i refused to speculate, but said the police would look into the possibility.
Police have arrested 22 people in the Central Sulawesi attacks, shot dead six of the suspects and recovered hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
The gunmen are believed to have obtained the weapons from the Philippines, the southern part of which is home to a Muslim separatist insurgency and is a short journey by boat from Sulawesi island.
Police said the suspects would be charged under the terrorism law.
Kalla said the 90-minute meeting, held at the residence of Poso regent Muin Pusadan, resulted in an agreement to declare the attackers their common enemy and uphold the law against them.
One of peace accord signatories representing the Muslim side, Yahya Mangun, said the attackers did not represent Islam but a small group who wanted to undermine peace in the regency. His Christian counterpart Rev. Kamboji agreed, saying both Christian and Muslim communities condemned the attacks.
The Poso meeting also resulted in the government's approval of the local resident's demand to reclaim their property which was affected by the sectarian violence a few years ago.
Kalla said returning to their land was part of a comprehensive solution to the conflict.
"We expect the community figures to help the government collect data on property ownership, some of which remains unaccounted for," Kalla said.
Hundreds of Christians hailed from Lombogia subdistrict in Poso downtown remain fearful of returning to their homes, while thousands of hectares of cocoa crops in North Pamona and Tentena belonging to Muslim community have been left unattended due to the absence of a security guarantee.