The Jakarta Post, February 20, 2006
Are former JI prisoners hibernating?
Anab Afifi, Jakarta
Two newspapers, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (Feb. 9) and The Straits
Times of Singapore (11/2), reported that Indonesian authorities would be facing new
security challenges caused with the release of dozens of key Jamaah Islamiyah (JI)
members from Indonesian prisons.
Those newspapers mentioned several names, such as Yasir Ibnu (39), Abu Rusdan
(45), Pepen, Zubair and Abu Faruq. The reports were based on the assessment of an
anonymous terrorism expert who argued that these jihadists would reactivate their
cells to rejuvenate the organization.
In a similar vein, Ken Conboy, who just released his book, The Second Front: Inside
Asia's Most Dangerous Terrorist Networks, gives a similar reading. "Most extremists
in South Asia, especially Indonesia, may go into remission in the coming years, but it
is almost certain that they will return in the future under the different names," he said
during an interview I did with him last year.
The warning is a wake-up call for us to be vigilant. But one also should understand
that the reports were solely based on unverified intelligence tips. It may sound
awkward for some security analysts, but it is important to give these jihadists a
second chance to live a normal life. As Sidney Jones said, that one should be aware
of the fact that not all JI members agree on violence as a means to achieving their
goals. Through careful examination, Hambali is likely the person most responsible for
terrorist attacks in Indonesia over the last five years.
In an interview last week, Yasir Ibnu vowed that he had changed. Ibnu was freed last
year. He served two years in jail for smuggling explosives and ammunition to Poso.
Ibnu was one of the cohorts of Hambali, sometimes called "Southeast Asia' s bin
laden".
"What they said (that the released terrorists will repeat their terror) is groundless and
reckless. I am retired now and I have been living a normal life since I was released
Oct. 3, 2004," Ibnu said angrily.
Ibnu, a father of four children, is now running a small business. He sells herbal
supplements to make ends meet. He also works as a volunteer for an NGO, Ampera,
which is dedicated to helping farmers in Palu.
Ibnu candidly admitted that the vice director of police intelligence in Central Sulawesi,
Wayan Wicaksono, invited him to Poso last September. But it was a call to monitor
the implementation of law enforcement, especially for terrorism. This program, dubbed
Wasgakum (monitoring and law enforcement), is aimed at gathering public
participation.
"I don't really understand why those terrorism experts mentioned my name as one of
the threats," he said.
Another released JI prisoner is Muhammad Syaifudin. Syaifudin was arrested in
Pakistan for falsifying documents. Security analysts believe that he was the member
of sleeper cell of JI, called al-Ghuroba. The members of this study group were
groomed to be JI leaders in the future. Now, Syaifudin is in Yogyakarta and may
continue his studies there.
Among the first Afghan "alumni" was Yassin Syawal. Syawal recently graduated from
a university in Makassar. Both are leading normal lives.
In his tranquil home in Kudus, Central Java, Abu Rusdan is a free man now. He was
jailed for helping one of the Bali bombers, Mukhlas. He was given an early release
several weeks ago for good behavior after serving less than two years of his three-year
sentence.
Rusdan is a gregarious, well-educated man. Most of the Afghan "alumni" that I
interviewed consider him a charismatic figure. "Even the Arab fighters (mujahideen in
Afghanistan in the 1980s) respected him," said Yasir Ibnu who fought alongside him
from 1987 to 1990.
Would these people return to the life of a jihadi?
To find the answer, I went to see my former schoolmate, Mubarok, the "money man"
of the first Bali bombings, who is still in prison.
"That is a crazy idea to say they would come back. Anybody who has been to prison
will think a thousand times about committing the same mistakes," Mubarok said
while recalling the tough times he has been through.
Recalling his time in Moro as a trainer, Mubarok said that Syaikh Slamet Hasyim, the
late MILF leader, had advised JI members who came to Moro for military training not
to conduct any attacks in Indonesia. Hasyim said that Indonesia was different from
Moro and the main priority for them should be to reform the morals of society. "But we
made mistakes." Mubarok said.
The lessons learned here are simple; terrorism experts and security analysts should
not create new fears and prejudices. They should carry out field research by talking to
these ex-jihadists directly and put a real effort into listening to them. Most of the
reports that are gained by those who claim to be experts are coming from
second-hand sources or even third-hand sources.
The writer is an independent researcher on terrorism issues. He can be contacted at
anabafifi@yahoo.com.
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