Indonesian clerics 'founded militant group' in Malaysia
Indonesian clerics 'founded militant group' in Malaysia
Yogita Tahilramani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
National Police deputy spokesman Brig. Gen. Edward Aritonang said
on Tuesday that an allegedly al-Qaeda-linked militant group,
Jamaah Islamiyah, was introduced in Malaysia by Surakarta,
Central Java-born Abdullah Achmad Sungkar.
"After Mr. Sungkar died in 1999, his longtime friend, cleric
Abu Bakar Ba'asyir from Surakarta, took over the leadership.
Ba'asyir's lieutenant was Hambali, aka Nurjaman Riduan,"
Aritonang said on Tuesday, after receiving the information about
the Indonesians from Malaysian police.
The statement, however, falls short of accusing Indonesia of
harboring terrorists as alleged by several countries.
A Malaysian police team arrived here on Sunday to exchange
information with Indonesian police.
Ba'asyir, who is currently running the Al-Mukmin boarding
school in Surakarta he established with Abdullah, has been
questioned twice by Indonesian Police over his alleged ties with
international terrorist groups, but they found no evidence to
arrest him.
Hambali, another Indonesian Muslim cleric, is a fugitive
wanted by Indonesian Police for his role in the 2000 Christmas
bombings and by Malaysian Police for his links to terrorist
groups.
Both Ba'asyir and Hambali have Malaysian permanent resident
status.
According to Malaysian police authorities, Ba'asyir and
Hambali were among four Indonesian Muslim clerics who entered
Malaysia in the mid-1980s, and injected their beliefs and
fundamentalist teachings into the minds of young Muslims in
Kedah, Kelantan and Johor. The other two were identified as fiery
cleric Abdullah Sungkar, who died in 1999 and Muhammad Iqbal, who
has been detained under Malaysia's Internal Security Act (ISA)
since June 2001.
Ba'asyir was previously sentenced to a nine-year jail term in
1978 here for his involvement with a group called the Komando
Jihad, which was fighting to set up an Islamic state in the
country. With his jail term halved, he later ended up settling in
Malaysia.
Abdullah, a former activist in the Islamic Youth Movement
(GPI), received a 12-year jail term in 1978 for trying to set up
the Islamic State of Indonesia.
With his jail term reduced to three years and 10 months by the
Sukohardjo District Court, Abdullah was released in April 1982
pending the Supreme Court's verdict on the prosecutors' appeal,
after which he fled Indonesia together with Ba'asyir.
In Malaysia, Abdullah Sungkar resided in the Air Bong village
of Serting Tengah, Batu Ulin area of Negeri Sembilan. He lived in
Malaysia under the name of Abdul Halim bin Ali. Despite being
advised by top Masyumi party leader, Mohammad Natsir, to refrain
from preaching extremist Islamic teachings, he continued
preaching his firebrand Islam and soon drew in a lot of
followers.
His teachings focused on an Islamic movement which he
reportedly coined as Jamaah Islamiyah, that had the purpose of
establishing a Daulah Islamiyah (Islamic nation) by applying the
strategies of Eeman, (faith), Hijrah (fundamentalism) and Jihad
(holy war).
Yogita Tahilramani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
National Police deputy spokesman Brig. Gen. Edward Aritonang said
on Tuesday that an allegedly al-Qaeda-linked militant group,
Jamaah Islamiyah, was introduced in Malaysia by Surakarta,
Central Java-born Abdullah Achmad Sungkar.
"After Mr. Sungkar died in 1999, his longtime friend, cleric
Abu Bakar Ba'asyir from Surakarta, took over the leadership.
Ba'asyir's lieutenant was Hambali, aka Nurjaman Riduan,"
Aritonang said on Tuesday, after receiving the information about
the Indonesians from Malaysian police.
The statement, however, falls short of accusing Indonesia of
harboring terrorists as alleged by several countries.
A Malaysian police team arrived here on Sunday to exchange
information with Indonesian police.
Ba'asyir, who is currently running the Al-Mukmin boarding
school in Surakarta he established with Abdullah, has been
questioned twice by Indonesian Police over his alleged ties with
international terrorist groups, but they found no evidence to
arrest him.
Hambali, another Indonesian Muslim cleric, is a fugitive
wanted by Indonesian Police for his role in the 2000 Christmas
bombings and by Malaysian Police for his links to terrorist
groups.
Both Ba'asyir and Hambali have Malaysian permanent resident
status.
According to Malaysian police authorities, Ba'asyir and
Hambali were among four Indonesian Muslim clerics who entered
Malaysia in the mid-1980s, and injected their beliefs and
fundamentalist teachings into the minds of young Muslims in
Kedah, Kelantan and Johor. The other two were identified as fiery
cleric Abdullah Sungkar, who died in 1999 and Muhammad Iqbal, who
has been detained under Malaysia's Internal Security Act (ISA)
since June 2001.
Ba'asyir was previously sentenced to a nine-year jail term in
1978 here for his involvement with a group called the Komando
Jihad, which was fighting to set up an Islamic state in the
country. With his jail term halved, he later ended up settling in
Malaysia.
Abdullah, a former activist in the Islamic Youth Movement
(GPI), received a 12-year jail term in 1978 for trying to set up
the Islamic State of Indonesia.
With his jail term reduced to three years and 10 months by the
Sukohardjo District Court, Abdullah was released in April 1982
pending the Supreme Court's verdict on the prosecutors' appeal,
after which he fled Indonesia together with Ba'asyir.
In Malaysia, Abdullah Sungkar resided in the Air Bong village
of Serting Tengah, Batu Ulin area of Negeri Sembilan. He lived in
Malaysia under the name of Abdul Halim bin Ali. Despite being
advised by top Masyumi party leader, Mohammad Natsir, to refrain
from preaching extremist Islamic teachings, he continued
preaching his firebrand Islam and soon drew in a lot of
followers.
His teachings focused on an Islamic movement which he
reportedly coined as Jamaah Islamiyah, that had the purpose of
establishing a Daulah Islamiyah (Islamic nation) by applying the
strategies of Eeman, (faith), Hijrah (fundamentalism) and Jihad
(holy war).