The Jakarta Post, August 20, 2005
Int'l terrorist still on the run
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The National Police denied on Friday a report that it had arrested Parlindungan
Siregar, a suspected al-Qaeda member allegedly involved in a train station bombing
incident in Madrid, Spain, last year.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Aryanto Boedihardjo acknowledged that early
this month the police and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) had detained an Islamic
teacher in South Sulawesi, but after days of questioning in Jakarta, they realized he
was not Parlindungan.
He said that the arrest was made following a tip off from Spanish Interpol that the
terrorist was hiding in the region.
"We sent a letter back to the Spanish Interpol saying that we got the wrong man, but
we are still looking for him now," Aryanto said.
The Asian Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Parlindungan, a 38-year oil
Indonesian engineer, was detained about two weeks ago, citing unnamed intelligence
officials.
Aryanto said the wrongly arrested Imam Mutarum was apprehended in Cindaku
village, Maros, South Sulawesi. He was then brought to Jakarta for further questioning
by the Detachment 88 Anti-terror squad at the National Police.
"We questioned him about his activities and we also questioned several witnesses as
well and we came to the conclusion that this man was not Parlindungan Siregar that
we were looking for," Aryanto said.
He explained that Imam, who was locally known as Kraeng Nabung, was an Islamic
studies teacher who hailed from a small village in Gedangan, Sidoarjo, before he
moved to Sulawesi to teach the recitation of the Koran.
Finding out that they had caught the wrong man, the police immediately sent the man
back to his family five days later.
Spanish investigators reportedly alleged that Parlindungan, operating through a Madrid
al-Qaeda cell, played a key role in recruiting extremists in Europe and arranging for
them to have military training at a camp on Sulawesi island.
He left Indonesia in 1989 to study in Madrid, is believed to be one of the few
Southeast Asians directly recruited into al-Qaeda. He also reportedly had extensive
ties to Islamic groups in Europe and the Middle East, AFP reported.
Elsewhere, Aryanto said the police were still trying to hunt down Parlindungan as the
Spanish police insisted that the terrorist was still hiding in Indonesia.
"We're still trying to find him now," Aryanto said.
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