The Jakarta Post, June 17, 2007
JI arrests prove that group is still strong
Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Despite the recent police arrests of two alleged leaders of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the
Southeast Asian Islamist group, experts have said the much-publicized confusion over
individual identities and cell names was an indication the Islamist group was just as
strong and growing in Indonesia.
"The confusion over the names and identities of recent arrests showed that the State
Intelligence Agency and National Police lack comprehensive information on terrorists,"
intelligence observer A.C. Manulang told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
"And this indicates that Jemaah Islamiyah is on the rise."
He said the databases from both intelligence and police institutions were inaccurate,
irrelevant and lacked depth -- despite the successful arrest of the JI leader identified
as Zarkasih and the head of JI's armed wing Abu Dujana.
Manulang said the Islamist group's growth was further bolstered by increased poverty
in the country and the use of Islam by politicians as a mean to gain power.
But Manulang said the intelligence agency's role was to report its finding to the
President -- and not to concentrate on catching terrorists, which was the role of the
police.
Centre for Strategic and International Studies analyst Bantarto Bandoro said despite
the two arrests, JI members would continue to pursue their goal of creating a regional
pan-Islamic state.
Bantarto told AFP the arrests would "disrupt JI's development for sure" but he said it
would not stop JI's activities "as long as their objective was not yet achieved".
"In the long term, they will try to find new methods (to operate) so their network won't
be easily detected."
Intelligence observer Wawan Purwanto told Detik.com newsportal the areas prone to
attacks were Jakarta, Medan, Poso, Papua, Ambon and East Nusa Tenggara, as well
as Yogyakarta and Central Java.
Wawan said when JI leaders Dujana and Zarkasih were arrested, both men said their
capture would do nothing to eradicate the danger because "the mastermind of the
terror was yet to be caught".
National Police spokesman Ins. Gen. Sisno Adiwinoto told the Post the anti-terror
elite squad Detachment 88 was still operating in Indonesia.
"We are still tracing other terrorists on the loose," Sisno said.
"It's not just Java, but other areas the police ... (have) been monitoring -- areas that
are susceptible to terrorist attacks."
But Sisno said the police were limited in their actions because they had to prove they
had enough evidence before any arrests could take place.
Criminologist Adrianus Meliala told the Post there had been a general impression
formed that BIN and the National Police were competing to catch terrorists.
"The police have been involved from the beginning of the terror eradication scheme and
they are more suitable (for the job at hand)," Adrianus said.
"The police have more information on the terrorist groups."
As for the issue of getting information from other terrorists, Adrianus said sending
terror suspects Umar Farouk and Hambali, currently detained by the U.S. in
Guantanamo, Cuba, to Indonesia needed more lobbying from the Indonesian side.
"The U.S. has to see first whether there are benefits for them in sending Farouk and
Hambali to Indonesia," he said.
The U.S. authorities have promised several times to provide Indonesian investigators
direct access to the suspects but Adrianus said that had yet to materialize.
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