Govt admits JI cell active in RI, but no Indonesians on UN list
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After persistent denials, the Indonesian government officially admitted on Wednesday the presence of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) cells in the country, and said they had possible links to the Bali bombing.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda acknowledged that a number of Indonesian citizens led JI, and therefore, it would be impossible to say that there were no JI cells here.
"Several central leaders of the organization such as Hambali and Imam Samudra are Indonesian citizens. So, in terms of JI cells, yes it exists here.
"Of course, we cannot identify the real shape of the organization or point out its headquarters as such an organization is fluid and hard to identify," Hassan remarked.
Separately, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said in Denpasar, Bali, on Wednesday that Imam Samudra had been implicated in the deadly Bali bombing and in other bombings in the country by the detained suspect Amrozi.
However, the police chief, who met Amrozi at Bali Police Headquarters, did not identify Samudra as a JI member.
Hassan said that with the finding of a possible link between Samudra as a JI member and the Bali bombing, it would be easier for the security forces to investigate JI cells and their assets, and then freeze them as required by the United Nations.
"In fact, the Bali investigation makes it easier for us to unravel the linkages between radical groups in the country and Jemaah Islamiyah," Hassan underlined.
The government had repeatedly said JI was not operating in the country, although it did admit that the organization's leaders and founders were Indonesian citizens.
But, after the Bali bombing, more evidence about its presence in Indonesia emerged, and pressure mounted for the government to act against its leaders.
Indonesia then joined 47 other countries in supporting the inclusion of JI on the UN consolidated terrorist list.
As a result, the United Nations late last month added JI to its list of groups and people whose assets should be frozen due to suspected ties to Osama bin Laden or his al-Qaeda network.
Putting groups and individuals on the UN list obliges the United Nations' 191 member-nations to freeze their funds and other assets and block their movements.
The goal of the UN list, which is maintained by a UN Security Council committee and currently has more than 300 names of businesses, individuals and organizations, is to deprive alleged terrorists of the money and other resources they need to carry out attacks.
Despite the inclusion of JI on the UN's terrorist list, no Indonesian names appear on the list although the organization was founded by Indonesians. The only Indonesian name submitted to the UN was the late Abdullah Sungkar, the founder of JI.
In fact, the government has on some occasions claimed that the detained Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, head of the Indonesian Mujahiddin Council, and Riduan Isamuddin alias Hambali, are JI leaders.
Ba'asyir is in police detention as a suspect in a series of bombings across the country. He is currently being treated at a police hospital in Jakarta.
Hambali has also been named as a suspect in a series of bombings, but he is still at large. In fact, Hambali has been described as the most wanted man in Southeast Asia as he is also wanted by Malaysia and the Philippines.
Samudra has also been tentatively identified as the main suspect in the Bali bombing.
But their names were not submitted to the UN.
Most of the names on the UN list have come from the United States. But China, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Kyrgyzstan have also contributed names.
Hassan further underlined that a government team was preparing a report for the UN Security Council regarding the activities of Jemaah Islamiyah in Indonesia.
"The ongoing investigation in Bali has helped us in preparing more detailed reports for the UN Security Council," the minister remarked.
However, it is not yet clear if the Indonesian government would submit the names of suspected Indonesian JI leaders, including Ba'asyir, Hambali and Samudra, to the UN.