ABC AUSTRALIA, 4/2/2003
INDONESIA: Government arrests senior terror figure
Since last October, there's been a lingering question about whether the group blamed
for the Bali bombings is planning another attack. Australian Federal Police
Commissioner Mick Keelty has said that at least one further attack had been foiled.
Now, attention is on the interrogation of a senior figure in Jemaah Islamiah, who has
been arrested in Indonesia, with hopes that he'll reveal more about the groups
operations. The man in custody is the suspected leader of the Singapore branch of
J-I.
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Presenter/Interviewer: Peter Lloyd, Southeast Asia correspondent
Speakers: Rohan Gunaratne, terrorism specialist and co-author of the Singapore
government White Paper on terrorism.
PETER LLOYD: This was a coup for President Megawati Sukarnoputri's government,
which has long been criticized for failing to take part in the region-wide fight against
terrorism.
Up 'til now her police have only been arresting JI members in connection with the Bali
attacks, but in recent weeks, at the request of Singapore, they've been widening the
net and now it looks like they've got the big one; Mas Salamat Kastari, the island
State's most wanted terror suspect.
Rohan Gunaratna, a writer on al-Qaeda who co-wrote the Singapore government
White Paper on terrorism, says this is a significant find.
ROHAN GUNARATNA: Mas Salamat Kastari was chief of JI in Singapore and in
December 2001 when the Singaporean government arrested a number of JI members
in Singapore that were planning to attack western diplomatic targets in Singapore,
Mas Salamat Kastari fled Singapore and relocated to Indonesia.
Since then he formed a JI Singapore International branch in Indonesia with the
intention of targeting Singapore.
PETER LLOYD: Kastari was made JI chief in Singapore by Hambali, the fugitive
leader of the organization. He wanted to crash a hijacked plane into Changi airport in
retaliation for the Singapore government's crackdown on the group.
It was an act, says Rohan Gunaratna, inspired by the attacks of September 11, 2001.
ROHAN GUNARATNA: Mas Salamat Kastari is an action man and he was working to
hi-jack a plane.
PETER LLOYD: It is unclear whether Indonesia will send Kastari to Singapore soon
because he may have to face immigration charges first for using fake documents in
Indonesia.
There is also the issue of extradition. There is no treaty between the neighbours
although Indonesia has repeatedly pressed Singapore for one.
Rohan Gunaratna believes Kastari has valuable information for countries across the
region, including Australia.
ROHAN GUNARATNA: Interviewing him would reveal significant information because
he will be knowledgeable about the post-December 2001 JI structure.
4/2/2003 | ABC Radio Australia News
© 2001 Australian Broadcasting Corporation |
