Government questions Taufik's nationality
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government is still trying to determine the nationality of terrorist suspect Taufik Rifki, currently in the custody of the Philippines authorities, saying he may no longer possess Indonesian citizenship.
"We have been informed about the arrest of Taufik Rifki in the Philippines, but we asked them to confirm whether or not he is still an Indonesian citizen," Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said here on Thursday.
According to Hassan, the name Taufik Rifki was not on the list of Indonesian citizens registered with the Indonesian embassy in Manila.
Due to questions about his nationality, Hassan said Indonesia had delayed providing consular assistance to the suspect.
The minister also said that Manila was planning to hold official press conference on Taufik's detention, but Jakarta had asked that it not be held until after the citizenship question had been cleared up.
"We asked for a delay to see if they can clearly identify the citizenship of the detainee as being Indonesian, in which case we will assist him," he added.
Taufik, allegedly the moneyman for the regional terrorist network, Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), was arrested earlier this month on immigration offenses.
However, further investigations by the Philippine investigators led to suspicions of his involvement in terrorist activities.
The Philippine authorities arrested self-confessed terrorist Fathurrahman Al-Ghozi in 2001 for illegal possession of explosives, for which he was sentenced to 17 years in jail.
He broke out of jail last June but was killed in a shootout with military trackers two weeks ago in the Southern Philippines.
Another Indonesian, Agus Dwikarna, is also serving a jail sentence in Manila for bringing explosives into the country.
Hassan also said on Thursday that Indonesia had no right to question the circumstances in which Al-Ghozi died as this concerned law enforcement in another sovereign country.
"We are not in a position to question the incident as it is governed by Philippines law. Similarly, when we sentenced a Malaysian citizen for the Atrium bombing, Malaysia didn't question us about it," the minister said.
He was referring to Taufik Abdul, the main suspect in the bombing of the Senen Atrium Plaza in Central Jakarta in 2000, who was sentenced to 15 years in jail.
"That was a legal process conducted in the Philippines and we have to respect this. Although Al-Ghozi is an Indonesian, he broke out of jail after being sentenced to 17 years," Hassan said.