The Jakarta Post, December 26, 2005
Police chasing six trained terrorist
Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The National Police have renewed a warning here that terrorist attacks are a real and
present danger in the would's largest Muslim country, saying a number of trained
operatives are still at large.
National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Makbul Padmanegara said on Sunday
at least six graduates of terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and Moro in southern
Philippines were hiding across Indonesia.
He did not identify all the suspects, nor the location of their suspected hideouts.
The police are hunting them down as their presence posed a serious threat to the
country in the future, Makbul told a discussion on Islamic boarding schools
(pesantren), jihad and terrorism at the Al-Azhar mosque in South Jakarta.
Makbul said these suspicions were strengthened by the recent finding by police of at
least 47 homemade bombs during November's successful raid that killed Malaysian
master bombmaker Azahari bin Husin in Malang, East Java.
The bombs were ready for use, the police said.
"It means that there are people who are prepared to carry out more attacks in our
country," Makbul said.
Azahari was blamed for masterminding a string of bombings in Indonesia in the last
three years, including the 2002 attack that killed 202 people in Bali.
His Malaysian accomplice Noordin M. Top remains at large and is believed to have
plans to launch revenge attacks.
The police have also said they have found evidence that Noordin has recruited new
followers to carry out more attacks.
Makbul said the police were chasing the wanted terrorist suspects through "proper
and smart" measures.
He insisted that the police would not fingerprint pesantren students as part of
measures to fight terrorism, a move that drew strong criticism from both moderate and
hard-line Muslim leaders.
"There is no such plan to monitor pesantren by taking their students' fingerprints. We
will combat terrorism with knowledge and technology," he said without elaborating
further.
Meanwhile, Forum for Muslims (FUI) leader Mashadi said many Islamic organizations
under the Terrorist Prevention Team comprising religious leaders, would promote the
correct interpretation of Koranic verses on jihad in order to prevent the concept from
being misused by militants.
"We will publish a book on jihad and terrorism and then promote it to ulema and santri
(pesantren students) across the country," he told The Jakarta Post.
Mashadi said the book would partly explain the definition of terrorism, the real
meaning of jihad, and those who are and are not allowed to be killed in a holy war.
"The book will also clarify sharia-based qisash (punishment) for a Muslim who kills
innocent people. Under the Koran, such an act is grave sin, but the question is
whether he or she will have to face qisash on earth as well as in the hereafter," he
added.
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