JI suspects in 'suicide squad': Police
JI suspects in 'suicide squad': Police
Abdul Khalik and Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Surabaya
The National Police said on Sunday that three terror suspects
they had captured last month in Solo and Surabaya were suicide
squad members of the regional Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) terror
network.
JI is a UN-listed terrorist organization blamed for the Oct.
12, 2002, Bali bombings, which killed at least 202 people, and
the Aug. 5, 2003, attack on the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta,
which claimed 12 lives.
National Police antiterror chief Brig. Gen. Pranowo said two
of three terror suspects captured in Surakarta, Central Java, and
one of two captured in Surabaya, East Java, over the last two
months were JI members specifically trained to carry out suicide
attacks across Indonesia.
"Yes, several people we arrested in Solo (Surakarta) and
Surabaya are JI suicide squad members, who were awaiting orders
from their leaders to launch attacks," he told The Jakarta Post.
Pranowo declined to release their names, saying it would
hamper police efforts to hunt down their accomplices.
He said police had also captured five other suspects in
Sukoharjo, Surakarta, who were charged for the Bali blasts and
the Marriott attack.
The five were not from the JI suicide squad, but ensuing
investigations helped the police capture other terror suspects,
he added.
"We have transferred them to Jakarta from Bali because we can
no longer charge them with involvement in the Bali bombings
following the Constitutional Court's recent ruling," he said,
referring to the annulment of a law that allowed the retroactive
application of the Antiterror Law.
After the Sukoharjo arrests, police nabbed Lutfi Haedaroh, 25,
and Air Setyawan, 23, in Surakarta on July 20 and July 26,
respectively.
Subsequently, the police also arrested last month a man
identified as Ismail in Surabaya, while on Aug. 4, cleric
Saifuddin Umar, alias Abu Fida, was also captured also in that
city.
Pranowo said Lutfi, Air and Ismail were allegedly new JI
recruits who had been readied for several attacks in Semarang,
Surabaya and Jakarta. He said Saifuddin was not a suicide squad
member, despite his alleged links with the terror group.
Meanwhile, East Java Police claimed that Saifuddin had hidden
the two Malaysian fugitives, Azahari bin Husin and Noordin
Mohammad Top, for two months this year. The two Malaysians have
been on the wanted list for allegedly masterminding the Bali and
Marriott attacks.
Saifuddin had also recruited several new JI members, including
Ismail and another fugitive suspect, Candra, East Java Police
spokesman Sr. Comr. Endro Wardoyo said on Sunday.
"Based on information from Sunarto bin Kartodiharjo, alias
Adung, one of the JI members arrested in Sukoharjo, we confirm
that Saifuddin was hiding Azahari and Noordin," he said.
According to Endro, Adung, head of JI Central Java, placed the
two Malaysian fugitives in Saifuddin's care for security, and the
two had stayed in Saifuddin's house in Sidotopo Lor, Surabaya,
since February.
In March, Endro said, the Malaysian suspects moved to a rented
house in Rungkut, also in Surabaya, ahead of the April 5
legislative election.
During this period, Azahari, Noordin and Saifuddin recruited
Candra, Ismail, Lutfi and Air, he added.
Saifuddin was recently released after suffering severe
depression under detention.
The police also arrested another suspected JI member, Sonhadi,
who confirmed that Azahari, Noordin and Saifuddin had recruited
and trained several graduates from Ma'had Aly Islamic School in
Ngruki, Surakarta, as suicide squad members.
Pranowo said JI's recruitment of new members in the past one
year showed the terror group remained a real and present danger.