Abu Bakr

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Three linked to Abu Bakar detained under ISA

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian police have arrested three suspects believed to be linked to a militant Islamic group in Aceh, less than 72 hours after Indonesia’s arrest of top radical preacher Abu Bakar Bashir.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said the three – two Malaysians and an Indonesian – were nabbed yesterday in Temerloh, Pahang, and Ampang, Selangor. They are aged between 34 and 70.

“All three were arrested under the Internal Security Act as we believe they are involved in activities detrimental to the security of the country,” he said.

It is learnt that one of them is a managing director of a company while the other two are a contractor and a marketing executive.

A Bernama report named them as Samsul Hamidi, 34, and managing director Sheikh Abdullah Sheikh Junaid, 70. The Indonesian is Mustawan Ahbab, 34, a marketing executive who was nabbed in Bukit Indah, Ampang. He is believed to be the direct link to the Aceh cell.

Regional intelligence sources said police here had been monitoring the activities of the three well before Abu Bakar’s capture.

Abu Bakar, who is alleged to be linked to Al-Qaeda, was arrested in Jakarta on Monday for suspected involvement in the funding and setting up of a terror training camp in Aceh.

Indonesian police investigations discovered the network calling itself Al-Qaeda Aceh, which they claimed was plotting to launch an attack in Indonesia and planning the assassination of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Abu Bakar’s detention came following the Aug 7 arrest of five men believed to be members of the firebrand cleric’s Jamaah Anshorut Tauhid (JAT) and the discovery of high-explosive homemade bombs and bomb-making laboratory in West Java.

Yesterday, Abu Bakar was charged with plotting terror attacks in an Indonesian court.



RI police handles Indonesian terror suspect case in Malaysia: Ministry
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 08/12/2010 10:14 AM

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday that National Police's Senior Liaison Officer in Malaysia was handling the case of Mustawan Ahbab, who was arrested by Malaysian authorities under terrorism charges.

Teuku Faizasyah told tempointeraktif.com that the Indonesian police were coordinating with the Malaysian police over the case.

“Both institutions will [investigate and later] decide Mustawan's implication in terrorism,” he said.

Media reported that Malaysia arrested Mustawan and two Malaysians, suspected as militants believed to have ties with Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir who was charged this week with helping plan terrorist attacks.

Malaysian authorities were holding the suspects under the Internal Security Act, which allows for indefinite detention without trial.

Ba'asyir was arrested for allegedly setting up a terror cell and militant training camp in Aceh province that was plotting high-profile assassinations and bloody attacks on foreigners in Jakarta.



Terrorism charges filed against Indonesian cleric

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia's best-known radical cleric was charged Wednesday with helping plan terrorist attacks in the world's most populous Muslim nation — a crime that carries a maximum penalty of death, police said.

Abu Bakar Bashir was arrested Monday for allegedly setting up a terror cell and militant training camp in Aceh province that was plotting high-profile assassinations and bloody attacks on foreigners in the capital.

Investigators compiled a strong case against the fiery 71-year-old cleric by monitoring his bank records, tapping phones and compiling confessions from other suspected militants, said Lt. Gen. Ito Sumardi, chief detective for the national police.

"He has been officially detained and charged with violating the anti-terrorism law," he told reporters, adding that Bashir, who has always denied terrorist links, has so far refused to cooperate with authorities.

He will not answer any questions or sign any documents.

Indonesia has been hit by a string of suicide bombings blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaida-linked network, since 2002 when militants attacked two packed nightclubs on the resort island of Bali, killing 202 people.

Bashir, best known as a co-founder and spiritual head of JI, has been arrested twice before and spent several years in jail. But this is the first time officials say they can link him directly to terrorist activities.

They say he helped set up al-Qaida in Aceh, providing funding, helping choose its leaders — including Dulmatin, one of the alleged masterminds of the Bali bombings — and keeping in regular contact with its field commanders.

Though Bashir faces a maximum penalty of death, few analysts believe he will get that.

"I think the strongest evidence the police are going to have against him is financing the camp in Aceh," said Sidney Jones, an expert on Southeast Asian terror groups, adding that it is her understanding Dulmatin, killed in a March police raid, reached out to Bashir, not the other way around.

"Looking at the various charges brought against him, my guess is they would produce around a 10-year sentence."

The overwhelming majority of Indonesians are moderate Muslims who reject violence.

The country's last suicide bombing at the J.W. Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in Jakarta ended a four-year lull in attacks blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah and its affiliates. Since 2002, more than 260 people have died in terrorist attacks.

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