JP/24/NASIR

JP/24/NASIR

Nasir Abas, poacher turned gamekeeper

Slamet Susanto
The Jakarta Post/Yogyakarta

Nasir Abas, 36, was formerly a regional operative of Jamaah
Islamiyah (JI), and widely accused of being a terrorist leader.

A JI member since its establishment in 1993, the Malaysian
citizen quit the organization in mid-2003 for refusing to get
further involved in JI conflict and later produced a book,
Membongkar Jamaah Islamiyah (Unveiling JI).

The conflict, according to Abas, arose as some people wanted
to employ violence as a means of articulating their struggle. He
mentioned the Hambali group, which plotted to turn the communal
clash in Ambon into national mayhem through a series of Christmas
bombings in 2000, including those in Manila, the Philippines.

The operation was financed through ill-gotten gains, as was
discovered in Malaysia.

When Abas was a JI member, he became an instructor and platoon
head in Johor Bahru, under wakalah (regent) Usman bin Affan. At
the end of 1997, Nasir rose to the position of chief wakalah of
Basar Al-Kubro, Sabah, subordinate to mantiqi (governor) Tsalis
(III), an official of the rank of governor, and in April 2001
assumed the office of mantiqi himself.

The sixth of nine children of Abas and Saemah, Nasir went to
primary school in Singapore before completing his secondary and
religious education in Malaysia. In 1987 he entered the Mujahidin
Military Academy in Afghanistan and stayed for three years.

From 1994 to 1996 he struggled with Moro fighters in Mindanao,
southern Philippines. To train the Moros and Al-Jamaah Al-
Islamiyah members, he set up the Hudaybiyah camp.

On April 18, 2003, Nasir Abas was captured in Bekasi, West
Java, on charges of involvement in the first round of Bali
bombings. After being tried by the district court in Palu,
Central Sulawesi, Nasir was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but
released on Feb. 18, 2004, after he cooperated with the
authorities.

In November 2004, Abas wrote an account of his experiences
titled Membongkar Jamaah Islamiyah, which was published by
Grafindo in 2005. The 300-page account exposes in detail the JI
organization.

Structurally, JI's top leadership is held by an amir jamaah
(commander) and its syuro (council) formulates the organization's
rules. JI also recruits Muslim intellectuals to form fatwa and
hisbah councils for the control of its activities.

Operationally, it is directed by the Qiyadah Markaziyah
council with a mantiqi (governor) and wakalah (regent) as
subordinate operatives.

JI's original name was Al-Jamaah Al-Islamiyah. However, to
make it easier to pronounce it was shortened to JI, which tends
to leave Muslims uneasy because Jamaah Islamiyah means "the
Muslim community", whereas Al-Jamaah Al-Islamiyah means "an
organization or group".

The second theme in the book refutes the justification for
suicide bombings in public places as acts of jihad (holy war) and
Islam. This perception, says the book, is misleading and in
direct opposition to the guiding prinicples of Al-Jamaah Al-
Islamiyah and Islam.

The book is based on Nasir's personal experiences, sources and
documents in the possession of the police in Solo, Central Java,
in 2002, including one titled General Guide to the Struggle of
Al-Jamaah Al-Islamiyah, as well as a report on paramilitary
training at Hudaybiyah camp, Mindanao.