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Southeast Asia

Indonesia Cuts Terror

2010-02-20

Indonesia has fallen off the map of the most-terror-prone places on Earth, corporate intelligence forecasters say. How did that happen in a nation once plagued by Bali's bombers? By annihilating the enemy. We watched it happen here. I was surprised in some respects, informed in others, gratified in still others... This week, Britain's Maplecroft group, an assessor of corporate risk, dropped Indonesia from its top 10 nations most likely to experience a mass-casualty terrorist attack. The group bases its Terrorism Risk Index entries on frequency and intensity of terror attacks and a nation's history. Likewise, the Swedish National Defense College has concluded that there's a diminishing threat in Indonesia. That's not the same as no threat at all, but it's a substantial improvement... If that sounds academic, consider that Indonesian and U.S. officials said no significant security risks threaten President Obama ahead of his weeklong trip to Indonesia next month. If there's anything there you can be sure it'll put in an appearance when the U.S. prez arrives... Now, to be sure, terrorism isn't completely gone from Indonesia. But there's been a lot of silence recently from that island country on the terror front. For a nation that experienced some fearsome terror attacks in past years, each quiet month is a sign of victory. So why has the threat dropped off so dramatically, Johnny? The reason isn't hard to recognize:Last September, Indonesian commandos blew away a Malaysian terrorist named Noordin Mohammed Top, who had a hand in every major Indonesian terror attack since the first Bali bombing of 2002. It says something that getting rid of a single terrorist kingpin could have such an impact on Indonesia's outlook. But it did. Noordin was the last of the Jemaah Islamiyah majors. The reason his demise was significant was that there now aren't any more of them left. That entire crop is either worm food or they've moved indoors for extended periods. That offers a reminder of what it takes to win a war on terror. Miranda warnings, civilian trials and shaking down blue-haired ladies at airports don't do it. Hunting and killing terrorists do. And leave us not forget good intel. You have to know who to hunt down and where to look... That's important because some analysts, such as Jakarta-based senior adviser Sidney Jones of Crisis Group International, have claimed Indonesia's progress is a result of turning the war on terror into a police action. She explained in a January interview with Voice of America that civilian trials helped win public trust. Sidney's a nice lady, but she's a touchy-feely sort from what I understand. She's not completely wrong, but to look at what Indonesia did suggests more of a militarization of its police forces than trust in the routine civilian mechanisms of police action. Indonesia treated terrorism with the urgency of warfare, even if its police took the lead. That was possible only because of strong leadership and big public backing. The leadership, recall, didn't come from the top down, which I consider damned significant. In October 2002 Indonesia was under the mushy hopey changey leadership of Megawati Sukarnoputri. Her vice president, the loathsome Hamzah Haz, was an Islamist who had spent the past year contemptuously pooh-poohing the idea of any kind of Islamic terror threat, hanging around with Abu Bakr Bashir and Jafar Umar Thalib. When the bad guyz detonated it was the guy who's the current president, then the relatively obscure Coordinating Minister of Political and Security Affairs in Mega's cabinet who took the ball and ran with it in spite of (not because of) the lacklusters at the top. Both reflect Indonesia's democracy and growing political freedom, which studies show repel terror. And no, the country didn't turn into a military state by treating terror as war. Indonesians set the actions into motion by electing a military man, Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono, as their president in 2004 and by reelecting him in 2009. The Indonesian general ran on a tough anti-terrorist platform and kept his word on that. I think he was elected because of his bulldog tenacity in hunting down Jemaah Islamiyah. Hamzah Haz ran in the 2004 election and came in dead last, with 3 percent of the vote. SBY followed his intel leads and he did as nice a job of network analysis as you could want to see. All of the JI members were neatly tied together, virtually all of them through blood or marriage relationships -- as we commented at the time, and they were all family. The entire threat to national security was shown to consist of about 60 people, maybe 70 or 75 by the time Noordin finally got done recruiting and burning new fodder. Sidney can say it was a "police problem," but from here it looked like it was solved as an intel problem. Isn't Al Qaeda much the same -- lots of marrying off of female relatives to promising young management candidates over the years? And it sounds like the Taliban -- both Afghan and Pakistani -- are family organizations, at least at the top. Taking the concept of crime family to a new level, that.

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Southeast Asia

Bali bombers death date set

2006-07-10

THE three Bali bombers on death row will be executed by firing squad at the end of the month, according to the Denpasar prosecutors office. Burn in Allahs hell Lawyers for Imam Samudra, 36, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, 43, and Ali Ghufron, alias Mukhlas, 46, had not lodged expected appeal documents, clearing the way for execution within weeks. Bali's Denpost newspaper today quoted officials as saying time had run out for the men convicted over the 2002 truck bomb blasts at the Sari Club and Paddy's Bar that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. The reported execution timetable could not be immediately confirmed by AAP today. "We waited, but they have not been lodged," the paper quoted an unidentified official in the prosecutor's office as saying about the three men's appeals. "It seems that by the end of July – to be exact July 30 – the execution will be done. "We are just awaiting the orders of the attorney-general's office." Lawyers for the three had promised to lodge appeals in May, basing their applications on the fact that anti-terrorism laws used to convict them were brought into force after the attacks. In 2003 Indonesia's constitutional court ruled the use of retroactive legislation was illegal. Indonesian Attorney-General Abdul Rahman Saleh has ruled the three, who have refused asking for presidential clemency, will be executed on the remote prison island of Nusakambangan off southern Java, dubbed "Indonesia's Alcatraz". A spokesman for the Attorney-General refused to confirm the execution timetable, saying only that preparations for the firing squad have begun. "What is clear is that it will be Nusakambangan, but we don't know the exact place yet," he told AAP. Denpasar prosecutor Wayan Suwila also refused to confirm July 30 for the executions and said authorities might be trying to pressure lawyers to lodge their requests for Supreme Court judicial review, thereby halting the process as the appeals are considered. "The impact of saying things like that would be too vast," he said. "Maybe, just maybe, this is a tactic to provoke the lawyers." The three bombers were moved to Nusakambangan last October on security grounds after Balinese incensed by triple suicide bombings rioted outside their Denpasar prison and demanded their immediate execution. Balinese community leaders have demanded the trio be executed on the island where they committed their crimes. Executions in Indonesia are carried out at dawn by hand-picked paramilitary police at a secret location, usually a patch of forest or a beach. Meanwhile, the radical cleric jailed and later released for giving his blessings to the Bali bombings, Abu Bakar Bashir, is reportedly planning to join one of Indonesia's largest Islamic political parties. The conservative Partai Persatuan Pembangunan (United Development Party) of former vice president Hamzah Haz has invited Bashir to become a member, the Indo Pos newspaper reported, "The PPP is a party based on Islam, which is the same path followed by Ustadz (honoured teacher) Abu Bakar Bashir," the party's central Java branch head KH Thoyfoer said. Bashir was released from jail on June 14 after serving a total of four years, including a sentence for involvement in the first Bali bombings.

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Southeast Asia

Police Break Up Indonesia Suicide Squad

2004-08-04

Associated Press / MICHAEL CASEY /8-4-04 Six Muslim militants arrested last month in Indonesia were members of a suicide squad that was awaiting attack orders from leaders of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror group, a top security official told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Police recovered letters in a house rented by the men in which they told their families they intended to blow themselves in attacks on unspecified targets, said Ansyaad Mbai, the top anti-terror official at the security ministry. "Dear Mom..." "They were awaiting orders from their bosses, Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohammed Top," Mbai said, referring to two wanted Malaysians who police say are leaders of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terror group. "This shows that terrorism remains a threat in Indonesia." I don't think anybody doubted that, except maybe for Hamzah Haz... The six suspects were arrested on June 30th in a house in Sukoharjo on Indonesia's main island of Java, some 400 kilometers (240 miles) east of Jakarta. They are being held on Bali island and are cooperating with police. "Put the pliers away! We'll talk!" Police have said the men also played a role in the Oct. 12, 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, and the Aug. 5th, 2003 attack on the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta that killed 12. Both attacks were blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah and involved suicide bombers. They were the first recorded instances of suicide tactics being used by militants in the world's most populous Muslim nation. Police have arrested scores of alleged Jemaah Islamiyah militants in recent years in Indonesia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, including at least 40 over the Bali and Jakarta attacks. Azahari and Noordin have been the subject of a manhunt for the past year. Police said the pair narrowly escaped capture in November when officers raided a house they were renting in Bandung in west Java. Authorities have warned the two are armed with explosives and could be planning fresh attacks ahead of the final round of Indonesia's presidential elections on Sept. 20th.

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Southeast Asia

Explosion Mars Release of Indonesian Election Results

2004-07-26

The results have been announced in the first round of Indonesia's presidential elections. But the day was marred by a small bomb planted in the headquarters of the country's election commission.As expected, former Indonesian security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will face President Megawati Sukarnoputri in a September runoff. He's the former "security minister", remember that. The head of Indonesia's election commission announced that the winner of the first round of voting was Mr. Yudhoyono. With 33.6 percent of the vote, he was well in front of the incumbent, President Megawati, who captured 26.6 percent. The announcement of the results of the first round of voting was delayed for several hours after a small bomb exploded at the election commission offices. No one was injured in the blast, which did minor damage to a ladies toilet in the building in central Jakarta. Police reports say it seems to have been a large firecracker. There was a phoned in warning 30 minutes ahead, but it went off before the full bomb squad arrived. No injuries, but they had to evacuate the building. The building where they were counting the votes. After which, the "security forces" bomb squad checked the building and made sure the building and the ballots were "secure" while "security forces" guarded the building. No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion, but Vice President Hamzah Haz told reporters that he believed it was planted by people who wanted to sabotage the democratic process. He did not elaborate. "I can say no more. Well, I could, but I like breathing."

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Southeast Asia

Indonesia vote favors Yudhoyono, Hazmah Haz creamed

2004-07-05

Millions of Indonesians across the world’s largest archipelago voted Monday in their first direct presidential election, with ex-general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono confident of winning most votes but not enough to avoid a second-round runoff. "Three cheers for democracy," enthused a Jakarta post editorial as electors ranging from illiterate tribesmen in Papua province to Javanese rice farmers and Jakarta yuppies seized their historic opportunity. "God willing, I am confident I can go into the second round," said Yudhoyono, a former security minister who led the fight against terrorism after the Bali bombings and other attacks by Al Qaeda-linked Islamic militants. A survey last week gave him 43.5 percent support, more than his four rivals combined. He needs more than 50 percent to avoid a runoff between the top two candidates on September 20. After three years at the head of the world’s largest Muslim-populated nation, incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri is struggling to make it to the likely runoff. The survey by the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) gave another ex-general, Wiranto, 14.2 percent support and Megawati 11.7 percent. Wiranto predicted that, "God willing," he would make the second round. National assembly speaker Amien Rais came fourth in the survey with 10.9 percent while current Vice President Hamzah Haz had just 2.4. I don't think that God wills he make it to the second round... Polls closed at 1 p.m. (0600 GMT). Hank Valentino of IFES, speaking around one hour earlier, estimated turnout in Jakarta at over 80 percent. Official results are expected over the next two weeks. Results of an unofficial "quick count" were to be released late Monday or Tuesday. Results from 17 polling stations in Bali and nine in the Jakarta area showed Yudhoyono top at all but one. Rais was performing unexpectedly well in several regions. Ballots are counted at each of the 575,000 polling stations and counts are forwarded to district centers for tabulation. The process slowed down when the national election chief ordered a nationwide recount to include millions of ballot papers, which inadvertently became invalid. Voters used a nail to punch a box corresponding to their choice. Because ballot papers were folded in half, many punched two holes -- making the vote invalid until the commission’s ruling. Indonesia's version of the butterfly ballot. Megawati has disappointed the hopes of millions of "reformasi" (reform) supporters who voted her party top of the polls in a 1999 legislative election. Legislators that year denied her the presidency and she took over in 2001. I still think it's a great thing. I wouldn't have been bent out of shape had she won, but the test of a democracy isn't with the first time it holds elections, but the second. No state of emergency, no forced constitutional amendments to keep her in power, and Hamzah Haz got creamed. I wish Yudhoyono luck.

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Southeast Asia

Choose the prettiest, Megawati tells voters

2004-06-01

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri has advised wavering voters to select the prettiest candidate in the July 5 election. "I've heard complaints that voters are confused because there are too many candidates," she said in an off-the-cuff speech after campaigning officially began. "Why confused? Just vote for the prettiest one," she said, to the cheers of about 2,000 supporters. Megawati is the only woman among five candidates in the country's first direct presidential election. The others are two former generals - her ex-security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and former military chief Wiranto - as well as her curent vice-president, Hamzah Haz and national assembly chairman Amien Rais. Megawati, daughter of the country's first president, Sukarno, was speaking at a ceremony marking the declaration by her father in 1945 of the state ideology known as Pancasila. Support for her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle slumped dramatically in the April 5 legislative election. The polls were won by Golkar, which backed former dictator Suharto. An opinion poll released today shows Yudhoyono with 41 per cent compared to 11.2 per cent for Megawati and 10 per cent for Wiranto.

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Southeast Asia

Suharto's party may make a comeback in Indonesian polls

2004-04-04

"Kids! Kids! The crooks are back!" Six years after Indonesia's strongman Suharto stepped down, the party which backed his dictatorship for decades seems set for a comeback. Voters in the world's third largest democracy -- disillusioned with the inefficiency, lacklustre growth and still-pervasive graft of post-Suharto Indonesia -- are expected to turn towards his Golkar party in Monday's general election. Confidence in democratic politics has been undermined by politicians themselves and "many ordinary people look through rose-tinted spectacles to the Suharto era as a time of social peace and relative prosperity", the International Crisis Group said in a December report. Opinion polls show Golkar replacing President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) as the biggest party in the 550-seat parliament, but without an absolute majority. If the PDI-P does fare badly on Monday, Megawati could face a tough battle in July's presidential and vice-presidential election despite her status as daughter of charismatic founding president Sukarno. Megawati, who took office in July 2001, restored macroeconomic stability and quelled ethnic and sectarian conflicts which had flared under the chaotic rule of her predecessor Abdurrahman Wahid. But half the country's 212 million people still live on less than two dollars a day, prices are rising and social services are worsening. Ten million are jobless and 30 million underemployed and economic growth is too low to make a dent in those figures. Foreign investment is still below its level before the 1997-98 economic crisis. Her administration's poor record in fighting endemic corruption has also left it vulnerable. Golkar claims it has changed since the Suharto era, which was marked by massive corruption and gross rights abuses. "Oh, yasss! We've learned our lesson!" [Raises eyes piously to heaven] However, it still stresses its past record in government, when Indonesia was one of Asia's tiger economies. If it comes second to the PDI-P in the legislative election, Golkar has said it will contest only the vice-presidency in July. They'd certainly be better off without Hamzah Haz... Presidential contenders do not have to come from the same party as their running mates, raising the prospect of a PDI-P-Golkar coalition. A high turnout is predicted across the world's largest archipelago for what the elections commission describes as the most complex single-day poll ever held by a developing country. Voters will elect the national parliament and a new body called the regional representatives' council as well as provincial and district legislatures. Unofficial results from a computerised count are expected within one or two days. A week after the campaign started, only two percent considered terrorism their main concern, according to one survey. Islamic fundamentalism has little mass appeal in the world's largest Muslim-populated nation. Secular and nationalist parties like Golkar and PDI-P are again expected to claim the lion's share of the vote. Five parties with mainly Islamic agendas have softened their message and shied away from the issue of introducing sharia (Islamic law) -- apparently aware that most of the 147 million voters are more interested in issues like unemployment and fighting graft. Analyst Muhammad Qodari predicted that the five would gain around a combined 14 percent of the votes, similar to 1999. Only the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) is expected to buck the trend, more because of its firm stance against corruption than because of religious rhetoric. "We know that people have a sort of phobia about the word sharia," said Ferry Kuntoro, a PKS spokesman. Or it could be that they have a good idea what it involves... "We are promoting Islamic values. These include good governance. We talk about issues such as how we can establish a government which is clean, honest and caring." Give 'em a little bit of power and in a year or two you'll discover that the path to clean, honest and caring government is through shariah.

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Southeast Asia

Indonesia willing to probe Bashir again

2004-03-13

Indonesia is ready to investigate militant Muslim preacher Abu Bakar Bashir again if new evidence is found about any involvement in terror activities, the Foreign Minister said on Friday. The accused spiritual leader of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah network is expected to walk next month from a Jakarta jail where he is serving time on immigration offences, after the Supreme Court announced this week it had halved his sentence. Are they going to deport him? Hassan Wirajuda told a news conference he was unaware of any immediate plan to investigate the 65-year-old Bashir again. ... so don't hold your breath. ``But logically if the government, in this case the legal apparatus, has evidence about the involvement of anyone including Abu Bakar Bashir in terrorist acts, obviously it will be acted on,’’ Wirajuda said. I don't expect there'll be any, given Hamzah Haz' liking for Abu and his movement. The Indons did a great job of rounding up the Bad Guys, but when the fix is put in for the chief Bad Guy the job's not done. Every time Dr. Fu Manchu got away, you knew there was going to be another book. Security experts have said a key factor in going after Bashir again could be getting information from another radical Indonesian preacher called Hambali, who is in U.S. custody. Wirajuda said the United States had passed on intelligence information from Hambali, but this could not be used to arrest anyone or initiate court proceedings in Indonesia under current laws. He demanded that Indonesia be allowed direct access to one of the world’s most dangerous militants. ``We demand to be given not just access to information, but direct access to that terrorist suspect himself,’’ Wirajuda said. Probably that's something that can be done. But it probably involves taking him off giggle juice for the interview, so there's no telling what he'd say... In sharp comments on Wednesday, visiting U.S. Secretary for Homeland Security Tom Ridge accused Bashir of being deeply involved in planning and executing terrorist acts. Ridge also said he could give Indonesia no timeframe for when it would win direct access to Hambali, whom Indonesian police have accused of funding the Bali attacks.

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Southeast Asia

Bashir may be free in months thanks to Indonesian court idiocy

2004-03-09

Indonesia’s Supreme Court has reduced a jail term imposed on militant Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir to 18 months, a court official said Tuesday. The ruling means that Bashir, who is said by foreign governments to have led the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group, could be free within months. Supreme Court spokesman Joko Upoyo said the court had reduced Bashir’s sentence for immigration offences to one and a half years. "The time he has spent in detention will be deducted," Upoyo told AFP. A district court last September convicted Bashir of taking part in a JI plot to overthrow the government but said there was no proof he had led the network. It sentenced him to four years in jail for treason and immigration-related offences. Wonder who put the fix in? Couldn't have been Hamzah Haz...

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Southeast Asia

New Islamic militia appears in Sulawesi

2004-02-04

This sounds a lot to me like Laskar Jihad under a new name, but okay ... A new militant Islamic militia has emerged here, according to a report released Tuesday by the International Crisis Group, just as Attorney General John Ashcroft is scheduled to arrive to address a conference on terrorism. The new group, Mujahedeen Kompak, was formed by hard-liners who split from Jemaah Islamiyah, according to the report, which was written by Sidney Jones, widely considered the leading authority on Jemaah Islamiyah. Kompak, an acronym, translates roughly as Action Committee for Crisis Response. Is this the same thing as the Laskar Khos that Zulkarnaean was reputed to lead? It says they split away from JI, but the way these jihadi groups work that could just be a tactical subdivision. The emergence of the group in central Sulawesi Province, which has been racked by Christian-Muslim violence, "suggests a need to revise assessments about the nature and gravity of the terrorist threat in Indonesia," Ms. Jones wrote in the report. "While the shorter-term prospects are somewhat encouraging, there is an underappreciated longer security risk." The organization presents a possible new partner for Al Qaeda, she wrote. Possible? This is the sixth report about Jemaah Islamiyah and terrorism in Southeast Asia by Ms. Jones, an American who speaks fluent Bahasa Indonesia, the national language. Bahasa Indonesia, curiously enough, translates as "Indonesian language." American, Australian and Asian intelligence and police officials are in general agreement that she has done a better job of understanding and analyzing the organization than have their own agencies. I'm surprised they'd ever admit such a thing. It'd be more likely they'd describe her as "an invaluable resource," or as "an insightful analyst." Did the NY Times hire Andrew Gilligan? One of the most arresting facts in the 41-page report is contained in a footnote that establishes the date of the founding of Jemaah Islamiyah as Jan. 1, 1993. That comes from a document Ms. Jones obtained. It will surely be uncomfortable for many Indonesians, including senior government officials and religious leaders, who continue to lie through their teeth insist that Jemaah Islamiyah does not exist. There's a difference between a political statement and what you really, truly believe. Ask somebody named Big Guido about the existence of the Mafia... Mr. Ashcroft is scheduled to speak Wednesday morning at the terrorism conference, which is being held in Bali and is jointly sponsored by Indonesia and Australia. He is hoping to meet with the Indonesian president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, in the afternoon, American and Indonesian officials said. High on Indonesia’s agenda will be a request that the United States turn over a top Jemaah Islamiyah operative, Riudan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, a senior Indonesian official said. After an intensive manhunt, Mr. Isamuddin, an Indonesian who was one of the few non-Arabs to earn a place in Osama bin Laden’s inner circle, was captured by the Central Intelligence Agency in Bangkok in August. He is being interrogated at an undisclosed location, and the United States has resisted persistent entreaties from the Indonesians for access to him. No telling what they're learning from him. Important stuff. Aboud Hamzah Haz... The Federal Bureau of Investigation has had a team, or teams, of agents in Indonesia since August 2002, when two Americans were killed and eight were wounded in an attack in the easternmost Indonesian province of Irian Jaya. The attacks were in an area owned by Freeport-McMoran Copper and Gold Inc., the giant mining company, which had paid Indonesian soldiers to provide security. More F.B.I. agents came two months later, after the car bomb attacks that killed more than 200 in Bali. Publicly, American officials say the Indonesians have been cooperating with the F.B.I. in those investigations. Privately, however, American officials complain about the lack of full cooperation. My guess is that the cops usually do, the army and the pols usually don't... All indications are that Indonesian soldiers were involved in the killings in Irian Jaya, American officials have said. Because of a lack of full cooperation and the absence of vital forensic evidence, however, they are doubtful that the killers will ever be found. That's what's supposed to happen... In the attacks in Bali, the Indonesian government has not given the F.B.I. as much direct access as it would like to those under arrest, several of whom have been convicted and are facing execution. The officials added that this was not considered a serious impediment, because, they noted, the Indonesians had done a good job of rounding up and prosecuting the attackers. The arrests have seriously crippled Jemaah Islamiyah, which has also been weakened by internal divisions "over how, when and where to wage jihad," Ms. Jones said in her report. A top priority for governments now, she concluded, is to prevent central Sulawesi from becoming an international training center like Afghanistan was under the Taliban. Al-Qaeda was running training camps in Sulawesi in early 2001, though those were reputedly shut down. There have been recent claims that new camps have been opened up, but no real confirmation one way or another. If those camps are there, then it’s already an international terror hub and needs to be shut down. JI is already churning out new flunkies in Mindanao, we don’t need another version of those MILF camps sprouting up in Indonesia proper.

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Southeast Asia

Indonesian Supreme Court to hear Bashir appeal

2004-01-15

The Supreme Court (SC) has set up a panel of judges to hear cleric Abu Bakar Ba’asyir’s appeal of his three-year prison sentence for treason. If the fix is in, like by Hamzah Haz, this is where they'll spring him... Mugiharjo, the court’s criminal division director, said on Wednesday that Chief Justice Bagir Manan would lead the panel of judges comprising of Paulus Lotulung, Parman Suparman, Dirwoto, and Muchsin. On Tuesday, Bagir told a delegation of Muslim clerics that the court may issue a verdict on the case on January 19. Ba’asyir, believed to be the leader of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), was earlier sentenced to four years in prison for treason by the Central Jakarta District Court. However, the Jakarta High Court later overturned the verdict, and shortened his prison sentence to three years for document forgery and an immigration offense.

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Southeast Asia

Indonesian troops and coppers to start weapons raids in Sulawesi

2003-12-15

A joint police and military force in Central Sulawesi will soon launch a search-and-seizure raid for sharp weapons in the violence-torn regencies of Poso and neighboring Morowali to prevent retaliatory attacks against a well-armed hit-and-run gang that has been terrorizing Christian villages of late, according to authorities on Saturday. The well-armed gang is reportedly JI, though I’m confused as to why retaliating against them would be a bad thing ... The raids will involve thousands of police and military personnel who have been deployed across the two regencies following the series of attacks in the last two months, Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Taufik Ridha was quoted by Antara as saying. Currently, there are some 3,400 police and soldiers on guard at security posts along the trans-Sulawesi highway in Poso and Morowali. The national news agency did not specify when the new operation would start. Nor did Ridha, who declined to give out any more information on the planned raids, but said that during the operations, security forces would examine all drivers and passengers traveling to and from Poso and Morowali to check for sharp weapons. Like knives and stuff ... He appealed to local people to immediately hand over their guns and other sharp weapons to nearby security posts before the arm raids were launched. Those caught with firearms and other weapons during the operation will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, he warned. The planned raids have become necessary in order to capture the remaining suspects blamed for the recent attacks in Poso and Morowali, which killed at least 20 people between October and December, as well as preventing those who may be bent on revenge. The death toll included at least eight people who died in the latest attacks in November and December. The latest incident took place in Kasintuwu neighborhood on Dec. 5, killing Hidayat, 17, and injuring Vivin, 21, who were shot, Antara reported. The worst incident since the December 2001 peace deal was inked, hit Poso on Oct. 12, this year, when masked gunmen launched pre-dawn attacks on three mainly Christian villages of Saatu, Pantangolemba and Pinedapa, killing at least nine people. Three days earlier, three people were killed when what appeared to be same gang, according to witness accounts, raided Beteleme, also a mainly Christian village in Morowali and burned 30 homes and a church. Ridha admitted the authorities were facing difficulties in arresting all the attackers because it was believed that they fled into the jungle and/or are being helped by some locals. The one-star general attributed the difficulties to the refusal of certain local people to give information on the identity and whereabouts of the Christian-killing gang. Several villagers are believed to have had some contact with attackers, but they have declined to reveal the identities to police, he added. A number of suspects have been captured, some have been killed in shootouts with the police, but several others remain at large. Police have said the simultaneous attacks were well-planned to destabilize Poso after the peace deal. Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Jusuf Kalla, who brokered the peace pact, has said the attackers were "well-trained" and able to carry out the attacks efficiently. Meanwhile, Vice President Hamzah Haz very eloquently deduced that the renewed violence indicated that a "certain group" did not want to see peace restored in Poso. He also recommended that the police to step up vigilance against such a group who was terrorizing villagers, but stopped short of speculating on who the "certain group" could be. They’re the folks who need no introduction ... The police have accused the attackers of being members of, or linked to, Jamaah Islamiyah, a regional terror network blamed for a wave of bombings across the country.

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