TEMPO Magazine No. 04/III/01 Oktober - 07, 2002
National
On the Trail of Omar Al-Faruq
Omar Al-Faruq is now known to have taken part in weapons training in Ambon. But in
Poso, senior Muslim figures say they don't know him.
THE name of Omar Al-Faruq may well have appeared in the media more often than
that of Megawati in the last two weeks. According to Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) documents quoted in Time magazine two weeks ago, the man of Arab descent
is behind an Al Qaeda network. He attracted attention because—according to the
documents—he admitted to twice planning to kill President Megawati. The security
forces are busy tracing the movements of the man also known as Mahmud bin Ahmad
Assegaf.
Initially the 31-year-old was thought to be a Kuwaiti citizen. But last week, Ali Al-Dafiri
an official at the Kuwait embassy in Jakarta, denied Al-Faruq was a native of that
country. Al-Dafiri said that Al-Faruq, who is currently being detained by the US
military at the Bagram base, Afghanistan, is an Iraqi citizen.
Al-Dafiri explained that Al-Faruq had been born in 1969 and named Mahmud Ahmad
Muhammad al-Rasyid. If this is correct, it means Al-Rasyid is now 33, two years older
than the age according to the CIA documents. Al-Rasyid is on record as an Iraqi
citizen with passport number 0549549. He entered Kuwait in about 1985 and worked
there for approximately 10 years.
Unfortunately, Al-Dafiri did not know the address where Al-Rasyid stayed during his
time in Kuwait. The only information is that Al-Rasyid left Kuwait seven years ago. If
the CIA documents are correct, he has been involved with Al Qaeda since he was in
Kuwait. They even state that Al-Rasyid, alias Al-Faruq, underwent training at an Al
Qaeda camp at Khaldan, Afghanistan. During his three years there, he was close to
Abu Zubaidah, right-hand man to Saudi billionaire and Al Qaeda leader Osama bin
Laden. He is also reported to have been sent by Al Qaeda to Moro in the southern
Philippines to assist the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
So how did he end up in Indonesia?
Some information came from Mira Augustina, Al-Faruq's wife, who was questioned
last week by Bogor police and "guests" from Jakarta, namely eight investigators from
National Police HQ. The mother of Al-Faruq's two children—aged 1 and 2—who now
lives in Cijeruk, Bogor, does not know exactly how her husband traveled to Ambon.
She only knows that he was there in 1999. The two married that July. Mira, who
wears a headscarf and veil, used to live in Ambon. She is the daughter of Ambonese
Islamic figure Haris Fadillah, who was killed in the religious fighting. After her father's
death, Mira and Al-Faruq moved to Bogor in 2001.
Mira is certain that Al-Faruq is an Indonesian citizen who was adopted by a family
from the Middle East and then moved to Kuwait. Al-Faruq returned to Ambon when he
reached adulthood. Where did he come from? Was it Afghanistan or Kuwait? That is
still an unanswered question.
A TEMPO investigation indicates that Al-Faruq traveled to the Spice Islands with
several associates after fighting broke out between Muslims and Christians in 1999.
As flights and shipping connections had been suspended by the security forces,
Al-Faruq sneaked in via Namlea in Buru Island regency. After resting in Namlea, he
continued on to Ambon via the Leihitu Peninsula.
The mujahidin fighters in Ambon knew Al-Faruq as "Muhajir". This is taken from the
Arab word for newcomer. Together with Haris, better known as Abu Jar, Al-Faruq took
up arms against the Christians. "They just came. They didn't know anyone. But they
were brave, and that rekindled the morale of the Muslims which had faded as a result
of the conflict," says a Muslim activist who met Al-Faruq in Ambon.
Al-Faruq's presence in Ambon is not mere rumor. A TEMPO source in the Ambon
Provincial Legislative council says that Al-Faruq was seen at least three times
defending Muslim villages with mujahidin fighters. Al-Faruq was also seen involved in
combat training at Kota Jawa, Rumah Tiga village, Baguala district, Ambon.
In Ambon, Al-Faruq and his family lived in the Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) housing
complex in Kebun Cengkih. Locals saw the family and their associates also thought
to be from the Middle East—judging by their posture and appearance. They occupied
two houses in Block D and Block B1 until the middle of 2001. A woman neighbor
says the Al-Faruqs led a very simple life. "The men slept only on mats on the floor."
During the day, Al-Faruq recited the Qu'ran and taught Islamic studies. He traveled to
villages in Piru district, Central Maluku. In his spare time, he was seen in discussions
with Laskar Jihad members in the BTN housing complex. One person who
participated in the discussions says, "Al-Faruq was more fluent in Arabic than
Indonesian."
Stories of the presence of Al-Faruq and people from the Middle East in Ambon are
nothing new. TEMPO sources in the intelligence service and the police say that a
connection between Ambonese and newcomers goes back to the time when
mujahidin activists from Indonesia were involved in the war in Afghanistan in the
1980s.
After the conflict ended in Afghanistan, the Indonesian mujahidin fighters returned to
their country. But they kept in close contact with their comrades in arms from the
Afghan conflict. In Kebun Cengkih, for example, there is the grave of a Yemeni who
was killed fighting in Ambon two years ago.
The story is given added credibility by Brig. Gen. (ret) Rustam Kastor. The Muslim
figure does not deny that foreigners from the Middle East were present when bloody
fighting broke out in his village. He also admits that volunteers from the Arabian
Peninsula helped in the fighting. Kastor is certain they came to help fellow Muslims.
"They are not terrorists," he says.
As far as Kastor remembers, the first wave of newcomers from the Middle East began
at the end of 1999 to early 2000. "There were only a few dozen of them," he says.
However, the former chief of staff of the Trikora Military Area Command is not certain if
Al-Faruq was among this first wave.
Al-Faruq's trail, according to Indonesian intelligence, was followed using video
recordings they obtained from the house of Seyam Reda, alias Daud, who was
arrested in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, two weeks ago. The German citizen of Arab
descent was referred to by Al-Faruq—in the CIA documents—as his superior in
carrying out Al Qaeda operations in Indonesia.
Special assistant to the chief of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), Muchyar Yara,
says he has seen the video recordings. One of them is a record of the Ambon
tragedy. "Al-Faruq is seen giving the command to attack," says Muchyar. In another
recording, about the conflict in Poso, Muchyar saw Al-Faruq training his subordinates.
These videocassettes were played for House of Representatives (DPR) members from
the defense and foreign affairs commission. President Megawati is reported to have
seen the video of Al-Faruq in action in the two restive regions. Recently, BIN chief
Hendropriyono said that his men had found a former Al Qaeda training camp in
Poso—a claim denied by local police.
Are the video recordings genuine? It is difficult to say. There is considerable evidence
from many sources, including his wife, that Al-Faruq was in Ambon. But it is less
certain he was ever in Poso. Several Islamic activists in Poso have denied using
Al-Faruq's services. The supreme commander of the Laskar Jihad in Poso, Adnan
Arsal Umar, denies Al-Faruq has been there. A senior Laskar Jundullah figure in
Poso, Abdul Risyad Nurdin, is also certain that nobody from the Middle East was in
the area.
So who is "Omar Al-Faruq" in the BIN video about Poso? Is it merely one of his
associates, or does this call into doubt the authenticity of the video? Is he merely a
man sympathetic to the Muslims in Ambon, or is he a key figure in the Al Qaeda
network? There are still many unanswered questions surrounding Omar Al-Faruq.
Widjajanto, Wenseslaus Manggut, Faisal, Idayanie (TNR)
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