Rohmat 'not linked to terror attacks'

Rohmat 'not linked to terror attacks'

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

An investigation conducted by the Indonesian police working along
with the Philippines security forces revealed that Rohmat, an
Indonesian citizen nabbed in the Philippines last week on terror
charges, was not involved in any terror activities in Indonesia.

Spokesman at the National Police Sr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis told
reporters on Tuesday that Rohmat was a member of Jamaah Islamiyah
(JI), a regional terror group linked to Al-Qaeda, and he has been
accused of playing a key role in three bombing incidents in the
Philippines, but there was no relation between him and the
various terror attacks here.

"He was involved in the Feb. 14 bombings in Davao, General
Santos and Makati city in the Philippines," Zainuri asserted.

A total of 13 people were killed and approximately 150 were
wounded in the bomb attacks, which were done in conjunction with
members of Abu Sayyaf, a Filipino separatist/Islamic group linked
to Al-Qaeda and JI.

Previously, authorities in the Philippines said that Rohmat,
alias "Zaki" or "Hamdan", was a bomb expert who trained local
rebels for deadly attacks in Manila.

Rohmat has also been identified as the "the JI liaison
officer" to Abu Sayyaf. He was arrested on March 16 at an army
checkpoint in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town on the southern island of
Mindanao, according to the Philippines military.

Zainuri added that Rohmat was the "brightest student" among
the 2002 group of trainees at the Hudaibiyah terror training camp
in the Philippines. Two other Indonesians, Siswanto and Yusuf,
who were arrested in June 2003 for possession of bombs and later
sentenced to 10 years in prison in the neighboring country,
trained at the camp during the same period as Rohmat.

After having been captured by the military, Rohmat warned the
Indonesian government that there were 23 "graduates" of the
Hubaidiyah camp penetrating Indonesia to plan more bombing
attacks here.

Zainuri said that the police, working together with Interpol
and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, were still hoping to find
those 23 people here.

"We have the names of the 23 people but we doubt those are
their real names. So far we haven't found any of them," Zainuri
stated.