The Jakarta Post, March 07, 2006
Two terrorist suspects arrested
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Police from an elite East Java counterterror squad arrested two men on Friday for their
alleged connection with Jemaah Islamiyah leaders Noordin M. Top and the late
Azahari Husin.
National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Anton Bahrul Alam said police from the
Detachment 88 squad apprehended Ahmad Basir in Surabaya on Friday. Basir was
believed to have harbored the JI leaders in a safe house, Anton said.
He could also be charged with arranging for another man, Kholili, a suspect in
detention for the 2005 Bali bombings, to attend military-style training in Solo,
Twenty-three people, including three suicide bombers, died in last year's attacks on
Bali.
Another suspect, Ahmad Arif Hermansyah, was taken into custody a day after Basir's
arrest. He is suspected of supplying Noordin's group with the TNT used in 2004
bombing of the Australian Embassy. Eleven people died in that attack.
Anton said police were continuing to question the two men.
Under the 2002 regulation in lieu of law on terrorism, investigators can question
suspects for up to a week on the basis of preliminary evidence.
Anton said that further processing of the suspects would depend on what police
discovered.
"If their involvement is proven, their detention will be continued," he said.
Meanwhile, the search for fugitive Noordin M. Top continues. Antara reported Monday
that East Java's Brawijaya Military Command had ordered all soldiers down to the
village level to increase their vigilance in efforts to determine Noordin's whereabouts.
Spokesman Lt. Col. Bambang Sulistyono said all soldiers should immediately report
any suspicious behavior in their area to superiors so "the terrorists cannot escape and
are not free to carry out criminal acts."
So far this year, police have arrested 12 terror suspects allegedly involved in JI. (08)
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