Police negotiating with 'pesantren' over suspects

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.