CRISIS CENTRE DIOCESE OF AMBOINA
Jalan Pattimura 32 -- Ambon 97124 -- Indonesia
Tel 0062 (0)911 342195 Fax 0062 (0)911 355337
E-mail: crisiscentre01@hotmail.com
Ambon, November 12, 2005
THE SITUATION IN AMBON/MOLUCCAS - Report No. 493
1. TRANSIT AND TRAINING FOR TERRORISTS - According Police Precinct Chief
Leonidas Braksan, the Moluccas can be called a transit and training area for
terrorists. On the large island of Ceram, North of Ambon, training sites have been
located, notably at the mountains of Olas and Naga, West Ceram. Excerpts from The
Star daily of 11 November: Anti-terror police discovered a recently abandoned jungle
training camp where militants taught bomb-making skills to scores of extremists,
security officials said yesterday. Instructors at the camp in Maluku province were
graduates of terrorist academies in Afghanistan and the Philippines, said police Lt-Col
Leonidas Braksan. The isolated camp deep in the jungle had been running for several
years and was attended by militants from all over Indonesia, he said, showing how
terrorists have been able to maintain training networks despite a nationwide
crackdown. Police raided the camp on Seram Island earlier this month after receiving
a tip from recently arrested militants, Lt-Col Braksan said. Officers found several huts
there, as well as white flags used as markers for military exercises. "They were
teaching the tactics of war, including using weapons and making bombs," Lt-Col
Braksan said, citing testimony from captured graduates of the camp. "The place is
very isolated, and difficult to get to," he added. Fighting on Maluku and nearby
Sulawesi Island drew militants from all over Indonesia between 1999 and 2002, many
of whom went to take part in terror attacks elsewhere in the country. Foreign terrorists
looking for a replacement venue for Afghanistan after the US invasion there travelled to
the region and funded and taught at other camps, security officials say. Maj-Gen
Ansyaad Mbai, a top Indonesian anti-terror official, said the region continued to be an
important recruiting ground for Indonesian militant groups. "They can straight away
use their experience," he said, noting that militants have in recent years continued to
launch sporadic attacks on Christians and security forces in Maluku and Sulawesi.
"Sort of like on-the-job training." Thus The Star daily.
Moluccas Police Chief Brig.Gen. Adityawarman meanwhile denied reports that the
Moluccas has become a safe haven for terror suspects fleeing from other parts of
Indonesia. Moluccas police forces are now stepping up security measures,
anticipating the possibility of international terrorist Umar Al Farouk entering the area
following his escape from a US prison in Baghram, Afghanistan, last July.
Adityawarman said Farouk was in the Moluccas in 2002, when the Moluccas conflict
was still going on; he then trained a number of people for recruitment into his terror
network.
2. GUN-TOTTING CIVIL SERVANTS CAUGHT - Today's Jakarta Post daily
newspaper reports on two employees of the Maluku Plantations Agency that were
caught red-handed carrying an Australian-made automatic RMS Colt, two machetes,
20 rounds of 5.36 caliber ammunition and a magazine. The pair were stopped as they
were riding on a motorcycle in Passo, a large village about 12 km from Ambon city.
Both men will be handed over to the detectives division of the police.
C.J.Böhm msc,
Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina |
