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.