Fathur used fake ID to obtain RI passport

Blontank Poer and Yogita Tahilramani, The Jakarta Post, Sragen/Jakarta

An Indonesian arrested for suspected links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network in the Philippines used fake identification to procure a false passport from the Surakarta Immigration Office in Central Java, authorities said.

Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, arrested on Jan. 15 by Filipino authorities, was found to be carrying five passports with different identities -- one of them issued by the Surakarta Immigration Office on Aug. 14, 2000, carrying the name of Ronny Azad Ahmad.

According to Surakarta Immigration officials, passport number AC 324870 was issued based on a fake identification card bearing Ronny's name: it stated that he was living in the Pencol area of Sidokerto village, in the Plupuh subdistrict of Sragen regency.

Officer Dedi Setiana from the Surakarta Immigration Office also said that Ronny's parents, identified as Achmad and Siti on the family's card, were likewise names of people who had never been registered as residents of the Pencol area.

Fathur, who is originally from Madiun, East Java, is the son of Rukmana and M. Zainuri, who is a council member of the Muslim- based Crescent and Star Party in the city.

To get the fake ID card, Fathur paid a fee of Rp 60,000 (US$42) to Suroto, Sidokerto village chief of Plupuh subdistrict.

Suroto is currently being questioned by local police for issuing the card. Plupuh subdistrict police chief Sarwoko said that Suroto personally confessed to approving the card.

Ronny's fake ID card indicated that he was born in Riau on Aug. 15, 1973. Fathur is actually from Madiun, however, and is 30 years old.

In Jakarta, National Police inspector-general Comr. Gen. Ahwil Luthan said on Friday that Fathur's case would be tried by the Philippine court system.

"He committed the crime in the Philippines. Let's let Fathur's case be legally processed there," Ahwil said.

Singapore officials said earlier that the recent arrest of Fathur in the Philippines was a result of Singapore's intelligence work, as quoted by Reuters.

Fathur's arrest led to the seizure of a large amount of explosives that authorities now believe was linked to a bomb plot in Singapore.

"Arising from information that the (Singapore) Internal Security Department shared, the Philippines arrested Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi," officials from Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement on Saturday.