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.