'Terrorists planned to bomb police HQ'
'Terrorists planned to bomb police HQ'
Eva C. Komandjaja and Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Surakarta
The National Police revealed on Monday that the alleged
terrorists apprehended last week were planning to bomb the
National Police and the Jakarta Police headquarters.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Aryanto Boedihardjo said
that a total of 17 people, arrested in Surakarta and Wonogiri in
Central Java and also in Jakarta, were currently being detained
under antiterror laws that allow seven days detention without
charges.
"From documents that we have confiscated, we figured out that
they were planning to bomb the National Police and the Jakarta
Police headquarters," Aryanto said.
He said that the detainees were linked to last year's bomb
blast in front of the Australian Embassy in Kuningan, South
Jakarta.
"Based on our investigation, they provided detonating cable
and also TNT (trinitrotoluene) for the Kuningan blast," Aryanto
said.
He added that these people were also responsible for harboring
Malaysian fugitives Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohd. Top and
planning their escape route as well as giving firearms to them.
Apart from planning bombs in the city, these people were also
involved in distributing guns to conflict-prone areas in the
country from the south Philippines, where a military camp for
terrorist training is located.
"They were also sending people to the camp in southern
Philippines as well as hiding criminals in Central Sulawesi,"
Aryanto said.
He said that 11 of the alleged terrorists were arrested in
Surakarta and its neighboring town of Wonogiri in Central Java,
while the other six were apprehended in Jakarta. The figure
differed from the previous report from Central Java Police that a
total of 24 people were arrested.
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar previously said that
the suspected terrorists were linked to Jamaah Islamiyah (JI),
which has been blamed for major terrorist attacks in Indonesia.
The police also confiscated 500 live rounds of ammunition,
three ready-to-use bomb circuits and potassium chlorate (an
ingredient used in bomb making) from raid operations in Central
Java. They have also confiscated four firearms and 334 live
bullets in Jakarta as well as documents detailing planned
terrorist attacks in the country.
"We have strong indications that they were involved in
terrorist attacks including other bombings apart from the
Kuningan blast. We will issue arrest warrants for them as soon as
the seven-day detention period is over and they will be
transferred to the National Police Headquarters," Aryanto said.
However, he refused to mention their names for fear it would
make their accomplices flee.
Meanwhile in Surakarta, approximately 500 Muslims from various
hard-line organizations in Central Java held a protest in front
of the Surakarta Police station demanding that 11 Muslim
activists detained by the Police be returned to their families.
"The police only assumed they're involved in terrorist
activities even though they don't have any proof," said Kholid
Saifullah from the Surakarta Antikidnapping Front.
He added that the police were irresponsible and unprofessional
when arresting activists and did not heed regulations.
A similar comment was also voiced by Cholid Hasan, who is a
coordinator for the Surakarta Muslim Alliance. He claimed that
Muslim gatherings were always spied on, hence he did not feel
free to teach Islam.