RI Mujahidin confirms members among arrested in Malaysia

RI Mujahidin confirms members among arrested in Malaysia

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI) confirmed on Saturday
that three Indonesian Muslim militants arrested by Malaysian
police were members of their group.

They were charged with trying to foment an Islamic government,
as well as having possible ties to a suspect in the investigation
of the Sept. 11 hijackings, according to Malaysian investigators.

Malaysian police identified the three Indonesians, arrested
under the Internal Security Act (ISA), as Abu Bakar Bashir,
Hambali and Mohamad Iqbal.

A Mujahidin official said he knew of the arrest from news
reports, but has not yet received formal notice from Malaysian
authorities.

"I have yet to receive first-hand information," chairman of
the council's Jakarta chapter, Sayid Hamidan, told The Jakarta
Post on Saturday. The ISA is frequently regarded as draconian.

The three Indonesians, along with 10 other Muslim militants,
may be linked to Zacarias Moussaoui, a French national on trial
for participating in the September terrorist attacks in the U.S.,
Malaysian investigators said.

They were also arrested for conducting secret meetings to set
up a Daulah Islamiah (Islamic government), an activity deemed a
threat to national security.

Hamidan added that Abu Bakar Bashir is Mujahidin council chief
while Hambali and Mohamad Iqbal are members. Hambali and Iqbal,
he noted, have been living in Malaysia for several years.

But Hamidan did not completely agree with the Malaysians'
description of events. "I don't think Abu Bakar Bashir has been
arrested, because he just arrived from Mecca," he added.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf, who is in
Mecca for a minor haj pilgrimage, declined to comment on the
comment.

Asked why his group has been aiding movements to establish
Islamic states in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines,
Hamidan replied that is was part of all Muslims' religious duties
to form Islamic governments.

Such is, he said, is the very nature of politics. "The
socialist party wants to establish socialist government, and the
communist group tries to set up communist-oriented government,"
he said. "That is normal."

Hamidan was quick to add, however, these ends must be achieved
peacefully.

"We will be glad if our idea gets immediate support, but if
people reject that idea, we will keep on struggling," said
Hamidan, who is also coordinator of the Islamic Sermon College
(PTDI) in North Jakarta.

The Mujahidin council was established in August of 2000 in
Yogyakarta. One of the founders was Abu Bakar Bashir, chief of
the Ngruki Islamic boarding school in Surakarta.

In Malaysia, meantime, members of an opposition party and a
human rights group challenged the government on Saturday to prove
in court its charges against the 13 Muslim militants.

Rights group Aliran urged the government to present evidence
in open court to support its allegations to gain public
confidence, AFP reported.

"Without an independent trial in court, these allegations will
only raise alarm and fear," the group said in a statement. "They
may even scare away much-needed investors and tourists."

Lim Kit Siang, chairman of the opposition Democratic Action
Party, said charging the group in a courtroom was the best way to
convince Malaysians of the credibility of the case.

In the neighboring Singapore, 15 people have been arrested
under the ISA for alleged involvement in terrorism, the Home
Affairs Ministry officials said Saturday.

Thirteen of those arrested in the raids, which took place
between Dec. 9 and Dec. 24, were "cell members" of a clandestine
organization calling itself Jemaah Islamiah, the ministry said in
a statement.

All but one of them were Singaporeans; the foreigner was a
Malaysian citizen, who was formerly a Singaporean national, the
ministry said.

A search of the homes and offices of the suspects reportedly
yielded information on bomb construction, along with photograph
and video surveillance of targets, doctored passports and forged
immigration stamps and other material connected to Osama bin
Laden's al-Qaeda network, the ministry said.

"Key figures of the Jemaah Islamiah, including several of
those presently in custody, have links to militant elements in
Malaysia and Indonesia," the ministry said.