Police negotiating with 'pesantren' over suspects

Rendi A. Witular and Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar/Jakarta

The police say they have located six suspects wanted for the Bali bombings in a number of pesantren (Islamic boarding schools), and are currently negotiating with the schools' leaders over their handover.

Muslim leaders, however, warned that the police finding of suspects hiding in the pesantren should not lead the nation to charge that boarding schools support terrorism.

Insp. Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika, head of the police joint investigative team into the Oct. 12 Bali bombing, refused to name the pesantren, which he described as "sensitive places."

"Our men are negotiating with local figures and the leaders of these sensitive places. I have instructed my men to pay great respect to the values of local people and the institutions where the suspects are hiding," Pastika told reporters in Denpasar, Bali.

"Although legally we have the authority to conduct raids, it would only make things worse. This is a sensitive issue. Religious friction may arise if we fail to respect the values of such places."

Pastika's revelation supported a statement by National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar on Monday that the suspects might be holed up inside pesantren.

All of the six wanted suspects named by the police on Sunday were believed to be inside a number of pesantren in Banten, West Java, Central Java and East Java.

Pastika would not identify the location of the pesantren, but he confirmed that the six were hiding in the schools.

The investigative team on Sunday released sketches of six suspects in the Bali bombing. They are Imam Samudra, M. Ali Imron, Dulmatin, Wayan, Idris and Patek.

The team identified Samudra, Dulmatin and Idris as being those who assembled the bombs that went off in front of the Sari Club and inside Paddy's Cafe in Kuta, both packed with tourists, on Oct. 12. Over 190 people, mostly foreign visitors, were killed.

On Tuesday, Da'i described Imam Samudra as a member of the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist group.

"The individual concerned is the person tasked with carrying out (JI) operations in regions in Indonesia. His involvement in several bombings required him to be in Indonesia," Da'i said.

The police, however, have been facing mounting criticism from various Muslim quarters, including from Vice President Hamzah Haz, over their searches of Islamic boarding schools for the suspects.

Despite assurances from President Megawati Soekarnoputri that the current probe into the Bali bombings would not target Muslims nor Islam, Muslim groups are still concerned about the government's war on terrorism and the way the police have been paying close attention to Muslim schools.

Two of the country's largest Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, have also called on the police to show more respect in their searches of Islamic schools.

Masdar Farid Mas'udi from the Association for the Development of Islamic Boarding Schools and Society (PPPM) also urged the police on Tuesday not to act excessively in searching for the bomb suspects inside Islamic boarding schools.

"The police must do their job in enforcing the law. But please do it wisely and in a proper manner as there are a lot of prejudices among Muslim communities right now," Masdar told The Jakarta Post over the phone.

Masdar revealed that out of over 8,000 Islamic boarding schools across the country, only "very few of them" would possibly harbor the suspects.

Separately, a Muslim cleric in Banten, Syahril Abror, said he planned to establish a Muslim antiterrorist movement, like the one established in South Sulawesi.

"We will hand out circulars to be signed by all Muslim clerics here to join in the effort to combat terrorism," Syahril Abror said in a speech at the Al Bantani Islamic boarding school in Serang, Banten.

Banten legislative council chairman Dharmono K. Lawi lent his support to Syahril's suggestion, saying it would help restore the image of Islam.

"All religions have the same mission in their teachings: how to restore peace in the world. No religion will tolerate violence," Dharmono was quoted by Antara as saying.