Police await nod from Pakistan

Police await nod from Pakistan

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Police are waiting for the green light from Pakistan to send a
team to question five Indonesian students detained there on
suspicion of terrorist links, Police chief Gen. Da'i Bahctiar
says.

Da'i said, police could not yet send the team, as there was no
guarantee that it would have access to the five students.

"We have set up a team, but we are still waiting. Indeed, we
plan to include intelligence officers in the team but we still
don't know when..." Da'i said after welcoming President Megawati
Soekarnoputri and her entourage at the Halim Perdanakusumah
airport in East Jakarta.

Megawati arrived home Sunday from a week-long visit to the
United States, Tunisia, and Libya.

According to Da'i, the team would ensure that Indonesian
students were treated well while in custody. The team would also
investigate the activities of the students up until their
arrests.

Six Indonesian students -- Rusman Gunawan alias Gun Gun, Ilham
Sopandi, Furqon Abdullah, Muhammad Anwar Asshidiqie, David
Pintarto, and Muhammad Saifuddin were rounded up by Pakistani
authorities for their alleged links with regional terrorist
network Jamaah Islamiyah (JI). One of the students, Saifuddin,
was released last Thursday.

They were all students of the Abubakar Islamic University.

Gun Gun had admitted that he had aided his elder brother, top
terrorist suspect Riduan Isamuddin alias Hambali by sending him
US$50,000 in cash and compact discs a few months ago.

He, however, also denied links to any terrorist group.

The Indonesian police have questioned several people who were
acquainted with Gun Gun and his friends.

"We have information, but not from Gun Gun himself," Da'i was
quoted by Antara as saying Sunday.

Vice President Hamzah Haz said on Saturday that the release of
Indonesian students from custody would take time.

"It is likely to take time. We, like any other country, must
respect the law there. It could take two, three, five or more
days ," he said in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, on Saturday.

Earlier, on Wednesday, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf
said his government could hand over the students to Indonesia if
the latter so wished, but so far the Pakistani military had yet
to give the go ahead.

Musharraf also discussed the issue with President Megawati
Soekarnoputri at a luncheon for leaders of member countries of
the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in New York last
week.

Haz said that the Foreign Affairs Ministry should use
diplomatic channels to seek the release of the Indonesians.

"We should give them (Pakistani authorities) time to
interrogate the students. If there is no evidence (on their
alleged link with a terrorist group), they should be released to
avoid tensions between us (Indonesia and Pakistan)," Haz said.

The Vice President reaffirmed that the Indonesian students had
not been arrested at the request of the Indonesian police, but
purely on the Pakistani authorities' initiative.