Taufik act as instructor in terrorist camp: Police

Taufik act as instructor in terrorist camp: Police

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Taufik Rifki, an Indonesian terrorist in custody in Manila, told
two Indonesian police officers there to question him, as he was a
military instructor for map reading at a terrorist training camp
in the southern Philippines.

National Police chief of detectives Erwin Mappaseng said on
Tuesday that Taufik, together with 16 other Indonesians, had been
trained in weapons, explosives and map reading in August 1998 at
Udaybiyyah Camp to prepare them to launch attacks in the region.
Taufik later worked as an instructor of the camp for two years.

"But his specialty is reading maps -- that is why he was asked
by Sulaiman to teach map-reading to his juniors. He also said
that as an instructor, he was not involved in operations," said
Erwin, referring to a senior member of the Udaybiyyah Camp.
Zulkifli, another terrorist, is the head of the camp.

Erwin said Taufik also provided the names of 26 other alleged
terrorist members who are still at large, several of whom are
believed to have fled to Indonesia. The police declined to
release the list of names to the press.

The National Police sent two investigators to Manila to
question Taufik about his involvement in a series of terrorist
attacks in the country, including the Bali bombings in October
2002 and the Aug. 5 JW Marriott Hotel bombing. The Indonesian
government has publicly announced that it would provide legal
assistance to Taufik during his trial in the Philippines.

The Indonesian-born Taufik was arrested in October in the
southern Philippines.

Earlier, Taufik had told Indonesian diplomats in Manila that
he was a Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) member and served as treasurer of
one of its cells. He also revealed that several of his colleagues
might have fled to Indonesia.

Police acknowledged the danger of the fugitives and apparently
have been carrying out a top-priority mission to locate their
whereabouts.

Many analysts believe that JI is linked to al-Qaeda, the
international terrorist group led by Osama bin Laden. Al-Qaeda is
thought to be responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks in New York
and Washington that killed more than 3,000 people.

Erwin also said that police had already retrieved information
from Taufik as to the group's financial system and sources to
fund their terrorist campaign, but did not disclose any details.