Police to question Malaysian terror suspect

Police to question Malaysian terror suspect

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The National Police are considering seeking from Bali bombing
suspect Wan Min Wan Mat -- who was released by Malaysian
authorities on Monday after being detained since September 2002
-- more information on terror attacks in the country over the
past few years.

Spokesman for the National Police Insp. Gen. Aryanto
Boedihardjo said the police had not yet arranged a meeting with
their Malaysian counterparts to ask them for access to Wan Min.

"Since our investigation of bombing incidents here is not yet
complete, we might try to seek information from him (Wan Min) and
find out how knowledgeable he is on the terror network in the
country," Aryanto said.

Wan Min had testified in a written statement read out by
prosecutors in the trial of one of the Bali bombing suspects that
he had sent around US$30,500 to a member of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI)
to finance "operations" in Indonesia.

JI, which is linked to al-Qaeda, is believed to have
masterminded numerous bomb attacks here, including in Bali in
2002, the Jakarta JW Marriott Hotel in 2003 and the Australian
Embassy in Jakarta last September.

AFP reported that after his release, Wan Min, who was a
lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, said he had repented
and renounced violence.

Wan Min, who was held under the Internal Security Act (ISA),
which allows for indefinite detention without trial, will be
restricted to Kota Baru, Malaysia's northern Kelantan state's
capital, and must report daily to police.

However, there has been no official explanation as to why he
was released and not prosecuted instead. According to a source in
the Malaysian government, Wan Min is no longer considered a
threat to national security.

It remains uncertain as to whether Indonesian Police will use
all information from Wan Min to build a new case against alleged
JI spiritual leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, or to locate the
country's most-wanted fugitives, Malaysian duo Azahari bin Husin
and Noordin Moh. Top.

Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna of the Singapore's Institute
of Defense and Strategic Studies, said that Wan Min was well
established as an important member and leader of the JI and that
it was very important that he should be prosecuted for his
activities.

Similarly, head of terrorism studies at the Australian
National University Clive Williams, said news of Wan Min's
release would be received with concern, particularly because 88
Australians were among those killed in the Bali nightclub blasts.

Currently, around 80 alleged Muslim militants remain in
detention in Malaysia, many of whom are suspected to be members
of the JI, but so far none have been brought to trial.