Pakistan to release four arrested Indonesians students: RI police
Pakistan to release four arrested Indonesians students: RI police
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Pakistani authorities have promised to release four of six
Indonesian students detained in the South Asian country for
alleged involvement in acts of terror, a top police officer said
on Friday.
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar told reporters that
the two remaining students, including Rusman Gunawan alias Gun
Gun, the younger brother of suspected terrorist chief Hambali,
would remain in Pakistani police custody for further questioning,
"We secured this commitment from the Pakistani's after a team
we dispatched there managed to meet the students during their
brief visit. Two of them will continue to be investigated," Da'i
said at National Police Headquarters.
The students due to be released are David Pintarto, Furqon
Abdullah, Ilham Sopandi and Mohammad Anwar, while Mohamad
Saifuddin would remain stay along with Gun Gun.
According to Da'i, the Pakistani police expect to dig up more
information on Hambali from Gun Gun and Saifuddin.
Gun Gun was arrested at a Karachi University on Sept. 1
following a tip-off from U.S. investigators questioning his elder
brother, Hambali, at an undisclosed location.
Gun Gun's arrest was followed by the arrest of 18 other
students, five of whom are Indonesians.
Hambali, a native of the West Java town of Cianjur, who real
name is Encep Nurjaman, was arrested by Thai and U.S. authorities
in Ayuthaya, north of Bangkok, in mid-August. He is believed to
be the top operative of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), an organization
which has been put on the United Nations' list of terrorist
groups.
Hambali is wanted by Indonesian police as his name has been
repeatedly mentioned by a number of terror suspects currently in
police custody. He has been linked to the Christmas Eve bombings
in 2000 which killed at least 24 people and last year's Bali
bombings which claimed 202 lives, mostly foreigners.
Da'i said he would leave for the U.S. on Monday. He added that
during his American trip, he would reiterate his request for
access to Hambali.
"I will take this opportunity to ask for the access (to
question Hambali in person)," he said.
Time news magazine, citing a regional intelligence official,
reported in its Monday's edition that Hambali was being detained
at the U.S.-British air base on Britain's remote Indian Ocean
island Diego Garcia.
The magazine, quoting from a copy of Hambali's confession,
also reported that the Osama bin Laden-led terrorist network al-
Qaeda, had sent him US$30,000 to fund the Bali bombings. Pleased
by the "success" of these bombings, the network reportedly sent
another $100,000 after the blasts to support the families of the
arrested Bali bombing suspects and to finance other attacks.
Hambali said some of the money could have been used for the
bombing of the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta on Aug. 5, which
claimed 12 people, the magazine said.
Da'i will be in the U.S. for a meeting with investigators from
the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and officials
from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
"The meeting has long been in the planning but it has been
repeatedly delayed," he said, adding that the meeting was to
discuss such topics as training cooperation between the U.S. and
Indonesian police.