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.