RI students in Pakistan grilled

RI students in Pakistan grilled

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A joint team from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National
Police and the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) are conducting
a preliminary interrogation of six Indonesian students detained
in Pakistan for alleged terrorist activities, a minister said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on Tuesday
that the questioning was expected to conclude this weekend,
before the students were deported by Pakistan authorities.

"The team has interrogated the students since Monday and they
will do it again today (Tuesday) over their alleged involvement
in terrorist activities," Hassan said.

The six Indonesian students currently detained in Pakistan are
Mohamad Syaifudin, Ilham Sofyandi, David Pintarto, Furqon
Abdullah, Muhammad Anwar As-Shadaqqi and Rusman Gunawan, alias
Gun Gun.

They were arrested by authorities in early September in
Karachi for alleged involvement in terrorist activities.

Gun Gun, the younger brother of suspected terrorist Riduan
Isamuddin, alias Hambali, has admitted to sending US$50,000 and
telecommunications equipment to his brother. Hambali is believed
to be the leader of Southeast Asian regional terrorist network
Jamaah Islamiyah (JI).

JI has been blamed for a string of terrorist attacks across
the country, including the Bali bombings on Oct. 12, 2002 and the
JW Marriott Hotel attack on Aug. 5, 2003.

Hambali has been in U.S. custody at an undisclosed location
since October.

Hassan said the six students would be deported and would take
a regular commercial flight from Islamabad to Jakarta, escorted
by the joint team.

Police said earlier that the six would be deported before
President Megawati Soekarnoputri arrived in Pakistan on Dec. 13
for a four-day state visit, and they would be detained upon their
arrival in Indonesia for further questioning.

Police said the students did not appear to have any criminal
records.

Hassan underlined that the issue would be resolved before the
President's state visit to Pakistan next week.

Megawati is to travel to Pakistan following the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations-Japan commemorative summit in Tokyo.