The Cross

 

Ambon Berdarah On-Line
News & Pictures About Ambon/Maluku Tragedy

 

 


 

 

 

Jafar Umar Thalib arrested in Surabaya


The Jakarta Post, May 4, 2002

Jafar Umar Thalib arrested in Surabaya

JAKARTA (JP): In a move to restore order and put an end to the Maluku conflict Indonesian Police arrested commander of Muslim paramilitary group Laskar Jihad Jafar Umar Thalib on Saturday over alleged provocation in last week's Soya incident inthe Maluku capital of Ambon, officials said.

Jafar was arrested during transit at Juanda Airport in Surabaya, the capital of East Java on his way to Jakarta, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf said.

Saleh declined to mention further details, but said a media briefing will be held later on Saturday.

Originally Jafar was to be arrested earlier in the day during a 30-minute transit at the airport of the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar on 12 p.m. local time as he had just left Ambon, the capital of Maluku, but due to technical considerations he wasarrested in Surabaya, South Sulawesi Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani told The Jakarta Post by phone.

"It is easier to bring him (Jafar) from Surabaya directly to Jakarta rather than if we arrested him in Makassar," Firman Gani, who is also a former Maluku Police chief, said.

Firman further said that police investigators in Ambon and Jakarta had enough preliminary evidence to arrest Jafar.

"Jafar's arrest is based on the letter of the law, in which there is evidence that he has been provoking conflicts in Maluku for quite some time. Police do not have to wait for an order from the President on this matter, because we run the system on legalgrounds," Firman said.

Laskar Jihad has been blamed for inciting riots in Maluku. As earlier as 2000 the group deployed thousands of Muslim Jihad warriors to wage a holy war in Maluku. (ylt/edt)

All contents copyright © of The Jakarta Post.
 


Copyright © 1999-2001 - Ambon Berdarah On-Line * http://www.go.to/ambon
HTML page is designed by
Alifuru67 * http://www.oocities.org/kariu67
Send your comments to
alifuru67@yahoogroups.com
This web site is maintained by the Real Ambonese - 1364283024 & 1367286044