Police to summon Al Chaidar

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Police will summon the spokesman of Darul Islam (DI), Al Chaidar, to explain his statement that three splinter factions of the former separatist group were involved in the recent bombing of Petra Church in North Jakarta and the grenade attack on the Australian International School in South Jakarta.

"We'll summon him to provide more details concerning the statement he issued to the media," Jakarta Police Spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam told Detik.com by telephone on Sunday.

Anton said that he knew Al Chaidar had stated that three splinter factions of DI were involved in the attacks, but he noted his statement was not clear.

Al Chaidar said on Sunday that he was ready to be questioned by the police, as an expert witness, not as a suspect of the crime.

He made the statement last Saturday at the organization's headquarters on Jl. Batu I, Pejaten Timur, South Jakarta.

"The three factions have long held a relationship with the military intelligence," Al Chaidar claimed.

DI, which now has only a small number of supporters, is a former separatist group in West Java and took up arms to fight for an Islamic state in Indonesia during the 1950s.

Al Chaidar said that members of his organization had split into two movements, namely those who had adopted a non-violent approach and those who had adopted violence for their campaigns. "The three splinter factions belonged to those who had adopted violence," he said.

He said that he expected there would be a series of blasts around Christmas, but he did not say whether the three splinter groups would be involved.

Last December, a series of bomb blasts hit several churches in Jakarta, injuring tens of people.