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May 8, 2006
Indonesia: Arrests Of JI Islamists in Sulawesi
Today, AKI relates that a group of five men were arrested in Tolitoli regency, in Central Sulawesi. The five men, Apriyantono (aka Irwan), Arman (aka Haris), Asrudin, Nano and Abdul Muis were arrested late on Friday (May 5). It now appears, according to Brig. Gen. Oegroseno, police commissioner in the region, that two of these men are accomplices of the Jemaah Islamiyah mastermind, Noordin Mohammed Top.
Oegroseno would not divulge the names of the two individuals, but stated that they are believed to have sheltered Malaysian-born Noordin Top, the financier, recruiter and organiser of terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, when he was hiding in Semarang on Central Java. We reported in November that a 33-year old man was arrested in Semarang for sheltering Noordin Top.
The regional police chief said: "I can't tell you which two of them, but we believe they have close links to Noordin." The men had arrived in Tolitoli about three months before their arrest.
The men had passed themselves off as bread-makers, and had sold snacks. Asrudin was the first to be arrested, and his wife claimed: "The police said my husband was arrested based on information that he had allegedly been involved in terror activities and the murder of a soldier's wife."
Noordin Top had narrowly avoided arrest when his hideout near Wonosobo was raided on April 29. Two men were killed in the operation, and two were arrested. We also described the report by Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Centre, which detailed the complex network which Noordin Top had developed, after he had gone into hiding following the Bali bombings of 2002.
One of the two men killed in the recent Wonosobo raid, Jabir, who also went under the name of Gempur Budi Prakoso, appears to have been Noordin's bomb-maker. Sidney Jones suggests he helped make the bombs used in the recent Bali bombings of October 1, 2005.
The Jakarta Post states that when Jibir's body was examined, he had a bomb on his chest. According to Brig. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam: "It was housed in a Tupperware container, 30 by 30 centimeters, containing two kilograms of gunpowder and four Paralon pipes packing the electronic detonator circuit. All (of these components) were assembled by Jabir."
Anton stated that Jabir was a close friend of Noordin Top and another Malaysian-born leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, Asahari bin Husin, who was killed in a police raid on November 9 at his refuge near Malang on Java. Though Azahari had the reputation as JI's main bomb-maker, it is now believed that Jabir had manufactured the bomb used in the attack upon the Australian Embassy in Jakarta on September 9, 2004. The truck-bomb killed 11 people and wounded more than 200.
Dr Jones report on the networks created by Noordin Top can be found in pdf format HERE. A Microsoft Word format version of her report can be found HERE. The full document is 38 pages long.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 8, 2006 7:03 AM
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