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Southeast Asia
Bali terrorists 'in Philippines'
2005-06-11
TWO terrorists wanted in connection with the 2002 Bali bomb blast may be on the run in the southern Philippines, a US thinktank believes.

The private sector intelligence group Stratfor, said reports from the Philippines indicated the two members of the terror group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) had been sighted in a mountainous region bordering the southern Muslim-dominated provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur on the island of Mindanao.

Pitono, also known as Dulmatin, and Umar Patek, are both sought in connection with a series of attacks against Western targets in Indonesia, including the October 2002 Bali nightclub bombing that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

Indonesian police, working closely with the Australian Federal Police, have succeeded in tracking down many of the terrorists responsible for the Bali and other bombings.

But some of the key plotters remain on the run. Among them are Pitono and Patek plus another pair, Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohammad Top who are believed to still be in Indonesia.

Reports from the Philippines indicate the members of Muslim separatist group the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are cooperating with the Philippines government in the hunt for Pitono and Patek, plus eight other alleged JI members.

Stratfor said MILF was now engaged in peace talks with the government and there had been a ceasefire since 2002.

It cited an MILF spokesman who said the two JI militants were in contact with Islamist militant group Abu Sayyaf and had met its chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani.

"While Abu Sayyaf has come under increasing pressure from Manila since 2002, when the US sent aid and advisers to the Philippines as part of its war against militant jihadists, the Islamist group has degenerated into a band of criminals, often undertaking kidnap-for-ransom operations," Stratfor said.

"In response to this pressure, Abu Sayyaf has sought alliances with JI and some MILF members opposed to peace with Manila."

This coincides with renewed travel warnings to Indonesia released this week by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs.

Stratfor said the Australian warning was extremely vague, saying only that attacks could happen anywhere, anytime and against any Western target in Indonesia.

Indonesian National Police General Dai Bachtiar downplayed the warning, saying he had no specific information.

"Despite Jakarta's dismissal of an immediate threat to Western interests in Indonesia, however, Western governments appear to agree that a serious threat exists in the region," it said.

"The recent bombing on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi indicates that the infrastructure is in place for planning attacks and transporting explosives.

"With skilled bombmakers Pitono and Top on the loose along with high-level operators Patek and Husin, the threat to Westerners in Southeast Asia is very real."
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Southeast Asia
Police confirm embassy bomb arrests
2004-11-24
Indonesian police have confirmed the arrest of four men wanted in connection with the suicide attack on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta in September. The suspects were arrested November 5 in west Java province, police chief General Dai Bachtiar said. The sources had said the field co-ordinator of the embassy suicide blast, Rois, known also as Iwan Darmawan, was among those detained. He was arrested with five other suspects shortly after midnight on November 10 in West Java's Merak port, the report said. The Rakyat Merdeka newspaper said another top JI figure, Dulmatin, had also been arrested in a police swoop. Dulmatin, alias Noval, is an electronics expert known in JI as "the genius" and who attended bomb making classes under Azahari.
"The genius." Is that the same rank as "mastermind?"
Dulmatin, a 39-year-old, reportedly executed the bombing by recruiting people from the provinces in Sumatra for the suicide operation and deploying surveillance teams. The other two arrestees were Abu Dujana and Jabir - both relatively minor players. The Kompas newspaper also said police had come close to arresting Azahari on several occasions. Traffic police had pulled him over three times but failed to recognise him, the daily said.
D'oh!
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Southeast Asia
Jakarta holds embassy blast suspects
2004-11-24
A little — not much — more on this...
Indonesian police say they have arrested "some suspects" in the Australian Embassy bombing, while a newspaper identified one of them as allegedly being linked to the 2002 Bali bombings and last year's attack on the J W Marriott hotel. Rois, alias Iwan Darmawan, was reportedly arrested on 10 November at a railway station on the western tip of Java island, the report said on Tuesday. Police did not publicise the arrest while they confirmed the suspect's identity, the report said. But when asked about the report, Gen Dai Bachtiar refused to confirm or deny it. "I can say that some suspects in the latest bombing have been arrested," he said, after meeting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "But I can't elaborate at this time. I will explain at the appropriate time."

Darmawan played a key planning role in the 9 September attack on the Australian Embassy, which killed 10 people including one attacker, the newspaper Kompas quoted the police source as saying. Police announced they were hunting for Darmawan two weeks after the embassy attack. They said then he was believed to be on the run with the attack's alleged masterminds, Malaysian nationals Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top. The Kompas report said Darmawan was arrested with five other people, but gave no more details. It also said Darmawan was involved in the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists, and a car bomb attack on the J W Marriott Hotel that killed 12 people.
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Southeast Asia
Indonesia Police Identify Aussie Embassy Attacker
2004-10-02
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesian police on Friday identified the man they suspect was the suicide bomber in an attack on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta last month, and said the 30-year-old wrote to his pregnant wife asking permission to die a martyr.

Police chief Gen. Dai Bachtiar said the man, Heri Golun, was driving the small truck that blew up outside the embassy on Sept. 9. Nine people were killed, including the attacker, and more than 170 wounded. All the dead were Indonesians. DNA samples from body parts and blood samples found in or very close to the remains of the truck matched those taken from Golun's family, Bachtiar said.

The attack has been blamed on the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terror group, which also implicated in attacks on Bali Island in 2002 and a blast last year outside the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta. Police have arrested five people in the blast.
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Southeast Asia
Indonesia Police Identify Embassy Attacker
2004-10-01
Indonesian police on Friday identified the man they suspect was the suicide bomber in an attack on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta last month, and said the 30-year-old wrote to his pregnant wife asking permission to die a martyr.
"Honey? Do you mind if I die a martyr?"
"Take out the garbage first, dear!"
Police chief Gen. Dai Bachtiar said the man, Heri Golun, was driving the small truck that blew up outside the embassy on Sept. 9. Nine people were killed, including the attacker, and more than 170 wounded. All the dead were Indonesians. DNA samples from body parts and blood samples found in or very close to the remains of the truck matched those taken from Golun's family, Bachtiar said. The attack has been blamed on the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terror group, which also implicated in attacks on Bali Island in 2002 and a blast last year outside the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta. Police have arrested five people in the blast. Chief detective Lt. Gen. Suyitno Landung said police had recovered a letter addressed to Golun's wife in which he asks permission to take part in a suicide mission. "The letter asks for forgiveness, and permission to die as a martyr," he said. "It asks that his family repay all his debts and name his child Achmad Jundullah." Media Indonesia daily reported that Golun's child was born Thursday and was named Jundullah, which means "Flying Meat God's solider" in Arabic. Bachtiar said Golun, who comes from a small town 190 miles east of Jakarta, had very strong links with the attack's alleged masterminds, Malaysian militants Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top. Officers have said they suspect Golun was a suicide bomber, but have yet to rule out the possibility he was duped into carrying the bomb before it was detonated by remote control.
"Sur...[KABOOM!]...prise!"
They have also said it was possible more than one person was in the truck when it exploded. DNA tests on body parts found at the scene are continuing, Bachtiar said.
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Southeast Asia
Noordin Mohammed Top in custody?
2004-09-23
Police announced Thursday they detained a man who may be one of the masterminds of the suicide bombing at the Australian Embassy that killed nine people and injured nearly 180. Police chief Gen Dai Bachtiar told reporters that authorities on Wednesday stopped a man who fits the description of Noordin Mohamed Top, one of two Malaysian fugitives believed to have orchestrated the Sept 9 attack. The man was detained at an airport. Bachtiar didn't give further details, but said police were investigating the man and can hold him for seven days under the country's anti-terror law.

False alarm...
Police on Thursday released a man they initially suspected of being one of the masterminds of the suicide bombing at the Australian Embassy that killed nine people and wounded nearly 180. Earlier, the country's police chief told reporters that authorities on Wednesday detained a man who fits the description of Noordin Mohamed Top, one of two Malaysian fugitives believed to have orchestrated the Sept. 9 attack. "After we questioned the man, we concluded that he was not Noordin Mohamed Top," said spokesman Maj. Gen. Paiman. "We let him go."
Ratz. Just some guy named Herb...
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Southeast Asia
Police searching to find site where bomb was made
2004-09-18
The Indonesian police detectives are still working to find the house where the Australian Embassy bomb was made. National police chief General Dai Bachtiar said here on Saturday that the van used in the bombing had first been taken to houses West Java and then Banten and later Jakarta before it was used. "We have found the houses in West Java and Banten but we are still searching the house in Jakarta," he said. According to witnesses, he said, the house in West Java had been used, not for making the bomb, but only for storing the materials.
Bet the neighbors were really happy about that...
He said the police already had captured a man who was close to alleged bomb suspect Azahari. He said the man known by his initials as AAH had been named a suspect and confessed that Azahari had once stayed in his house and had kept four boxes and six bags of bomb materials in the home of his relatives. "The problem is that the suspect is not the perpetrator of the bombing," he said.
Merely an accomplice, y'mean?
Dai said the police had so far examined 79 persons and arrested 10 others in connection with the case. He said that four persons had been named suspects so far including AAH, and three others known by their initials UB, IS and TN, who were captured on charges of harboring Azahari and also involvement in the bomb plot. "We have also detained several people in Banten for investigation," he said. Dai added that the police could not as yet confirm how many people were in the van that carried the bomb. He also said he believed they got the bomb materials through smuggling.
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Southeast Asia
Increased security foiled assassination attempt on Megawati
2004-09-11
Indonesia's police chief has revealed the same group that bombed the Australian embassy planned to assassinate Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri, three days before the presidential election. General Da'i Bachtiar revealed that the group also planned to kill Australian Justice Minister Chris Ellison, the Australian Federal Police Commissioner, Mick Keelty, and a host of other foreign guests. The contingent were all attending the official opening of an Australian Indonesian Terrorism Investigation Centre in Semarang in Central Java on July 3. The Australian Government issued a special travel warning at the time of the opening but never revealed the intelligence behind the warning.

General Bachtiar said police mounted extra security ahead of the Semarang opening when they learnt of the planned attack and he believes it was that which stopped the bombing. "The Semarang attack was avoided because we really did increase the level of security," General Bachtiar said. "Because of the level of security, they changed their minds," he said. Asked if the attack was intended to assassinate Ms Megawati, he replied: "Yes ... there's no doubt because they intended to target the actual ceremony and yet it is a target and our President and not just her, we invited many foreign dignitaries." General Bachtiar also revealed that police raided a house near the airport in Jakarta a month ago but narrowly missed finding Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohamad Top, the Malaysian terrorists accused of carrying out the attack on Thursday.
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Southeast Asia
6 JI busted in Sukoharjo
2004-07-01
Six Muslim militants thought to have played a role in the bombings of two nightclubs on the resort island of Bali and the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta have been arrested in Indonesia, police said Thursday. National Police Chief Gen. Dai Bachtiar would not release their names but insisted they all played a central role in the attacks. He did not say if they were members of the al Qaeda-linked regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, which is widely believed responsible for the bombings. "Clearly, they planned and were involved in the Bali and Marriott bombings," Bachtiar said.

The six suspects were arrested in a house in Sukoharjo, some 240 miles east of Jakarta, said another police official, who refused to be named. Bachtiar said he was hopeful that the arrests could lead police to the country’s most wanted fugitives — Malaysian terror suspects Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohammed. In the past two weeks, authorities have stepped up their search for Azahari and Noordin. Both men are members of Jemaah Islamiyah and are believed to be on the run in Indonesia. They narrowly escaped capture in November when police raided a house they were renting in Bandung, about 110 miles west of Jakarta. Authorities have warned that the two are armed with explosives and plan fresh attacks ahead of Indonesia’s presidential elections on Monday.
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Southeast Asia
Police detain MMI members for paramilitary training
2004-05-25
Police questioned dozens of members of the Indonesian Mujahiddin Council (MMI) for allegedly taking part in paramilitary training in the Tawangmangu jungle of Karanganyar, Central Java. The group of 35 people was disbanded by locals at dawn on Monday. The people were then detained by the police who had been observing the site since Sunday. "We are questioning them, and the investigation is ongoing," National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Monday. The police refused to go into details of the activities of the men, nor the charges that might be brought against them.

Surakarta Police detective chief Adj. Comr. Yuda Gustawan confirmed that they had been investigating the activities of the men. Locals said the group of young Muslim men had been camping in the jungle since last Thursday and were involved in military training, without using real rifles. A resident, Supono, said that he saw the group engaging in military-like practices such as marching and shooting, though with sticks. Worried about the activities of the group, Tawangmangu subdistrict chief Drajad Mahendratama, along with dozens of others, visited the location and demanded that the men leave the site at once.
Mahendratama's a Hindu name, not Muslim...
Drajad even provided three minivans to evacuate the men, while dozens of policemen stood by before taking them to the local police station for questioning. Police said that the group was led by Djarot Supriyanto alias Abu Haidar, a noted activist of MMI. The organization is led by cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged spiritual leader of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI). "We are not involved in military training, we were just camping. This is simply a misunderstanding," Haidar said during the evacuation.
"Doesn't everybody march when they camp in the woods?"
He further said that the activities were not at all related to MMI, as participants were activists of various Muslim-based organizations. According to police, the 35 men came from cities across the country, such as Bandung and Purwakarta in West Java, East Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara, and Karanganyar, Sukoharjo, Kendal, and Pemalang in Central Java and Jakarta. Most of the men were aged between 20 years and 30 years, and a retired military officer, Lasmana Ibrahim, served as their trainer. Police say Lasmana is a navy officer from Bandung who retired as a major. In 2002, the state intelligence agency (BIN) also claimed the presence of a military training site for the al-Qaeda terrorist network in Poso, Central Sulawesi, on the grounds of a Muslim boarding school there, a charge which has also been denied by those affiliated with the school.
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Southeast Asia
Malaysia Deports Suspected Terror Leader
2004-05-14
Malaysia deported a suspected leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group to Indonesia on Friday, and he was immediately arrested there for questioning about his possible links to the organization. The surprise announcement that Mohammad Iqbal Abdul Rahman had been sent back to his native country appears to resolve a dispute between Malaysia, which wanted to expel him because of alleged terrorist activity, and Indonesia, where authorities had previously said they had no reason to detain him.
"What the hell would we do with him?"
Indonesia's national police chief Gen. Dai Bachtiar said Iqbal had been arrested in Jakarta when he arrived on a flight from Malaysia. He was being held at the Jakarta police headquarters on charges of forging identity cards, but police will question him over alleged terrorism links, Bachtiar said. The deportation was announced in a High Court hearing, where lawyers and family members had expected him to appear to fight a government order withdrawing his Malaysian permanent residency status and declaring him an unwanted immigrant. "I have instructions to inform this court that Mohamed Iqbal Abdul Rahman was deported from Malaysia this morning," government lawyer Fadzillah Begum told the court. "He was deported to Jakarta."
"Next case!"
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Southeast Asia
Megawati fires police chief after Bashir riot
2004-05-02
The chief of police in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province has lost his job after President Megawati Soekarnoputri complained about police violence at protests against the arrest of militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. Megawati met her national police chief, General Dai Bachtiar on Saturday night after national television showed South Sulawesi police clubbing scores of madrassa talibs university students with revolvers and batons. The students had been protesting against Bashir’s arrest immediately after he was released from jail on Friday. General Bachtiar announced yesterday that Mrs Megawati had ordered him to act against the police whose officers were shown entering classrooms at the Indonesian Muslim University in Makassar to beat students, some of whom had taken a traffic policeman hostage during their demonstration. He said he had removed South Sulawesi’s police chief inspector, General Jusuf Manggabarani - who had just announced the removal of at least two of his most senior officers in an attempt to contain the fallout from the violence. About 60 students were wounded, including two who were shot. The protest is likely to strengthen opposition to the arrest of Bashir, for interrogation over terrorist offences. Megawati also issued an apology to the students.
Good dhimmi.
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