Paras Indonesia, 03, 24 2006 @ 05:09 am
Jemaah Islamiyah's 'New' Leader?
Posted by: Roy Tupai
Regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah, blamed for a series of deadly bombings
in Indonesia, has for the past three years been led by a militant named Abu Dujana,
according to a senior police officer.
Senior Commissioner Petrus Reinhard Golose, deputy commander of Indonesia's
counter-terrorism task force, on Wednesday (22/3/06) said Dujana has been at the
helm of the group since April 2003, when he replaced Abu Rusdan.
Rusdan was allegedly appointed caretaker leader of Jemaah Islamiyah in October
2002, replacing militant cleric Abu Bakar Baasyir, who co-founded the group with
Abdullah Sungkar in Malaysia in 1993. Baasyir was said to have assumed the
leadership after Sungkar died in 1999.
Both Rusdan and Baasyir have strongly denied any involvement in terrorism and
insisted that Jemaah Islamiyah does not exist.
Rusdan was arrested in April 2003 and charged with involvement in the October 2002
Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people. In February 2004 he was sentenced to
three and a half years for harboring Bali bomber Mukhlas. He was never formally
charged with leading Jemaah Islamiyah and was released from jail last year after
receiving sentence remissions.
Baasyir was in March 2005 sentenced to 30 months in jail for involvement in a
conspiracy over the Bali bombings. In August 2005 he received a controversial
sentence cut of 4 months and 15 days. He is due to be released in June.
Afghanistan
Golose said Dujana has strong leadership qualities, close links to al Qaeda, speaks
Arabic fluently, and received weapons training in Afghanistan, where he met Osama
bin Laden.
Dujana was reportedly born in West Java, grew up in Central Java and fled to Malaysia
in the 1980s to escape a crackdown on Islamic militants by then president Suharto.
After teaching at the Lukmanul Hakiem Islamic School set up by Jemaah Islamiyah's
leadership in Johor Baru, Dujana went to Afghanistan to join the war against the
Soviets. He graduated from the Mujahideen Military Academy in 1991 and is said to
have studied bomb-making there alongside Jemaah Islamiyah's former operations
commander Hambali, who also reputedly headed al Qaeda's Southeast Asian wing
until his arrest in Thailand in 2003. Hambali is now being held by the US, which has
so far refused to hand him over to Indonesia for trial.
Golose said that whenever he had mentioned Dujana's name to Australian authorities
they said the militant was too young to be head of Jemaah Islamiyah. Dujana's age
has been put at between 34 and 37.
According to Golose, senior Jemaah Islamiyah figures Azahari Husin and Noordin M.
Top had reported to Dujana following the August 2003 suicide bombing that killed 12
people at Jakarta's JW Marriott Hotel. Azahari was shot dead in November 2005
during a police raid on his East Java hideout, while Noordin remains at large.
Golose said Dujana is a skilled bomber, "more dangerous than Noordin and Azahari"
and maintains good relations with al Qaeda.
More than 270 people have been arrested in Indonesia on suspicion of involvement in
terrorism since 2000. But several key figures have evaded arrest. In addition to
Noordin and Dujana, Indonesia's most wanted terror suspects include Dulmatin, Umar
Patek and Zulkarnaen. All three are accused of involvement in the Bali bombings.
Zulkarnaen is believed to have replaced Hambali as Jemaah Islamiyah's operations
chief. Dulmatin, an explosives expert, is believed to be in the southern Philippines.
Golose said the arrest of Noordin or one or two other senior radicals would not reduce
the threat of terrorism in Indonesia, as Jemaah Islamiyah has trained several new
bomb-makers.
He said it was difficult to pinpoint exactly who is in charge of Jemaah Islamiyah
because its individual cells operate secretively and often independently of one
another, while the group has also been divided by ideological and tactical splits. For
example, Noordin has reportedly declared himself leader of Tanzim Qaedat al-Jihad
(Jihad Basis Organization), which is viewed as a renegade offshoot of Jemaah
Islamiyah.
Golose said Noordin, who has also proclaimed himself to be al Qaeda's Southeast
Asian representative, is only a member of Asykari (Jemaah Islamiyah's militant wing
or special force) and not part of Markazi (Jemaah Islamiyah's central organization).
Rewards
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation's Rewards for Justice program is offering a $10
million reward for information leading to Dulmatin. The FBI is also offering a $1 million
reward for Patek. Indonesia's National Police headquarters is offering a Rp1 billion
reward for Noordin. Neither the US nor Indonesia are offering a reward for Dujana, who
is thought to be in Indonesia. Golose said arresting Dujana is a priority.
Terrorism expert Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group said that although
Dujana has long been a key figure in Jemaah Islamiyah, it was unclear whether he
was in charge of the group. "Dujana was indeed the secretary of the central command
of the organization. Over the last year there have been rumors he is head of JI, but
people close to JI have said they do not know how his name appeared as a leader,"
she was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
"We must wait for more facts before we can make that conclusion," she added.
Copyright (c) 2005 - PT Laksamana Global International. All rights reserved
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