Govt acts to cope with terrorism
Govt acts to cope with terrorism
Yogita Tahil Ramani and Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta
In an unprecedented move security authorities here have summoned
a Muslim cleric to question his alleged links to Islamic militant
networks, including al-Qaeda.
The move comes despite the government's previous denials any
Indonesian links to international terrorism here.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf said the
police had sent a summons to Abu Bakar Ba'asyir to question him
on Thursday at the National Police Headquarters.
"We have summoned Abu Bakar Ba'asyir for questioning on
Thursday at 10 a.m. We want to clarify the accusations that he is
linked to Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM) militants and
possibly even al-Qaeda," Saleh told The Jakarta Post.
He added that police did not currently have any evidence to
indicate that Ba'asyir had any links to the al-Qaeda network.
The Malaysian police reportedly detained Ba'asyir, 64, along
with 12 other men in December for allegedly trying to push for
the establishment of an Islamic government, and having ties with
a suspect now on trial in the U.S. who was allegedly involved in
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Ba'asyir, who heads the Indonesian Mujahideen Council (MMI)
and runs an Islamic boarding school in the Central Java town of
Sukoharjo, has denied any links to al-Qaeda or Osama bin Laden.
But he told the Post on Monday that he knew some of the
detainees in Malaysia as his former students when he lived in the
country in 1980s after serving four years of a 19-year sentence
for challenging the Soeharto regime.
Separately, National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said a
special team of detectives had been sent to the Philippines to
collect more information on an Indonesian man, Fathur Rohman al-
Ghozi, who was arrested there for suspected links to bin Laden's
al-Qaeda network.
Da'i said the man is from Indonesia and his father is a member
of the legislative council in Madiun, East Java representing the
Crescent Star Party.
Confirming Da'i's statement, Saleh said al-Ghozi carries many
fake passports, from, among other places, Indonesia and the
Philippines, and has at least five aliases. Previously Saleh said
al-Ghozi was a Canadian citizen.
Saleh added that the National Police Intelligence office had
received several reports on al-Ghozi and his alleged links to al-
Qaeda.
"Our team of detectives went to Manila to find out crucial
information about him. If the Philippine police will not mind,
our detectives would like to question him," Saleh said.
"Otherwise, we hope the Philippine police will share what
information they have on Fathur with us. We must find out exactly
what citizenship he carries."
Saleh added that there was a possibility that the detectives
would also make stops in Malaysia and Singapore, to investigate
possible terrorist links al-Ghozi might have in those countries.
Da'i acknowledged the sluggish move by the security
authorities in coping with terrorism compared to Malaysia,
Singapore or the Philippines due to the absence of an "internal
security act". Indonesian law, he said, requires adequate
evidence before making an arrest.
His arrest led to the arrest of four of his Filipino
associates and the seizure of a cache of weapons in the southern
Philippines.
They added that al-Ghozi had given funding and bomb components
to a principal suspect in the bombings of Manila in December 2000
that claimed more than a dozen lives.
Manila police added that al-Ghozi is believed to be a top
member of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiya, which they
described as an Islamic "terror group operating in Malaysia,
Singapore and Indonesia."
"He is the main man here. This guy, I would say, is in charge
and the link for other (terrorist groups in other) countries to
the Philippines," army spokesman Lt. Col. Jose Mabanta said as
quoted by AFP.
"Within the next few days we will be filing charges against
al-Ghozi," he added.