Int'l terrorist still on the run

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The National Police denied on Friday a report that it had arrested Parlindungan Siregar, a suspected al-Qaeda member allegedly involved in a train station bombing incident in Madrid, Spain, last year.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Aryanto Boedihardjo acknowledged that early this month the police and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) had detained an Islamic teacher in South Sulawesi, but after days of questioning in Jakarta, they realized he was not Parlindungan.

He said that the arrest was made following a tip off from Spanish Interpol that the terrorist was hiding in the region.

"We sent a letter back to the Spanish Interpol saying that we got the wrong man, but we are still looking for him now," Aryanto said.

The Asian Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Parlindungan, a 38-year oil Indonesian engineer, was detained about two weeks ago, citing unnamed intelligence officials.

Aryanto said the wrongly arrested Imam Mutarum was apprehended in Cindaku village, Maros, South Sulawesi. He was then brought to Jakarta for further questioning by the Detachment 88 Anti- terror squad at the National Police.

"We questioned him about his activities and we also questioned several witnesses as well and we came to the conclusion that this man was not Parlindungan Siregar that we were looking for," Aryanto said.

He explained that Imam, who was locally known as Kraeng Nabung, was an Islamic studies teacher who hailed from a small village in Gedangan, Sidoarjo, before he moved to Sulawesi to teach the recitation of the Koran.

Finding out that they had caught the wrong man, the police immediately sent the man back to his family five days later.

Spanish investigators reportedly alleged that Parlindungan, operating through a Madrid al-Qaeda cell, played a key role in recruiting extremists in Europe and arranging for them to have military training at a camp on Sulawesi island.

He left Indonesia in 1989 to study in Madrid, is believed to be one of the few Southeast Asians directly recruited into al- Qaeda. He also reportedly had extensive ties to Islamic groups in Europe and the Middle East, AFP reported.

Elsewhere, Aryanto said the police were still trying to hunt down Parlindungan as the Spanish police insisted that the terrorist was still hiding in Indonesia.

"We're still trying to find him now," Aryanto said.