Muslim Group Backs Jakarta Plan to Deny Free Care for Smoking-Related Illness

Jakarta smokers may soon find themselves on their
own if their habit makes them sick

A Muslim group has weighed in to support Jakarta’s plan to withhold free medical care for smoking-related illnesses as part of efforts to curb tobacco consumption.

The chairman of the South Sumatra Ulema Council, KHM Sodikun, said on Tuesday that the policy would warn smokers that their habit had more risks than advantages.

But Amidhan, chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), said the smoking issue should not be linked to the health insurance plan for the poor.

“I haven’t heard South Sumatra’s Ulema Council’s suggestion but if it’s true, then it’s wrong,” Amidhan told.

“Pronouncing smoking as haram [sinful] is one thing, while the health security scheme for poor people is another thing. If we can help those infected with HIV/AIDS, why can’t we help the smokers?”

Muhammadiyah, the country’s second-largest Muslim organization, recently declared smoking sinful, but the MUI and Nahdlatul Ulama, the biggest, have maintained it is undesirable but not forbidden.

The Jakarta government said in February that it would smoking-related cases would not be eligible for the Gakin health scheme, considering that smokers from poor families spent 22 percent of their income on cigarettes.

Dien Emawati, head of the city health agency, told it would start informing the public of the plan soon.

“We will promote it via posters and information provided at public health clinics,” she said, adding that they agency would hold a survey to identify Gakin card holders who smoked. They would be counseled on the dangers of smoking and the risk to their families’ future.

“In 2012 we will enforce the sanction. Smokers will not get health care for illnesses caused by smoking,” she said.

But Gakin beneficiaries would still be entitled to coverage for unrelated conditions.

“We don’t want to push it by force as this is actually an education for the head of families to be concerned about the health of themselves and their families.”

Governor Fauzi Bowo said the city could not justify paying the bills of people who ruined their health by smoking.

Fuad Baradja, head of the education unit of the Indonesian Smoking Control Foundation (LM3), said the move would make people reconsider their decision to light up.

“Smokers consciously endanger their own health and that of people around them and then ask the government to pay for them. It doesn’t make any sense," he said.

“We must ensure people are fully aware of the harsh consequences, like losing their health insurance coverage, if they keep on smoking.”

But he added that the policy must be applied flexibly.

“If someone has stopped smoking but his tobacco-related disease appears months or years later, the government should give free treatment,” Fuad said. “The most important thing is the person has quit smoking."

Catholic Youths Mar Easter Mass in Papua

Bearing a candle holder depicting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ,
a Catholic worshipper prays during a Mass to mark Easter Sunday
at St. Theresia Church in Cipanas, Bogor, West Java

As millions of Catholics in the country spent Saturday evening praying in churches to mark the night before Easter, youths marred the occasion in Papua by vandalizing the home of a man they said was disturbing the Mass.

Angered by the deafening sound of firecrackers, young worshipers at St. Fransiskus Asisi Koperapoka Church in Timika ran outside to investigate.

They found that firecrackers were being lit near the home of Kadir Sadipun, 65, who was busy preparing for a wedding.

The firecrackers had been set off by teenagers, but this did not stop the youths from stoning Kadir’s home and breaking his windows.

Kadir managed to flee, but a wedding tent set up outside his home was destroyed. The youths then returned to the church.

The priest leading the proceedings, Father Amandus Rahadat, said the congregation had heard the continuous sounds of firecrackers and he had seen the youths run from the church.

“I had asked them to remain calm and not react to the noise coming from outside,” Father Amandus said, adding that he had asked all churchgoers to keep the peace and respect one another, particularly during religious celebrations.

Police were seen guarding Kadir’s house after the attack.

Christian communities across Papua welcomed the dawning of Easter by lighting torches in their backyards.

The backyards in villages such as Bouw, Amroben, Swapodibo, Burokub and Mandala cast a festive flow to mark the special religious event.

“Churchgoers at 3 a.m. on Sunday held a dawn Easter parade carrying lit torches,” Father George Korwa said.

Easter Sunday marks the day Jesus Christ is believed to have risen from the dead, two days after his crucifixion, which is marked on Good Friday.

In Jakarta, celebrations were concentrated at the cathedral in Central Jakarta, the largest Catholic church in the city.

The cathedral celebrated five Masses on Sunday to accommodate the thousands of parishioners.

In the city of Ambon, incessant rain that started just after midnight did not stop worshippers from celebrating the resurrection of Christ.

Easter celebrations in the city began on Saturday evening.

Drenched churchgoers were forced indoors for their celebrations, which included a reenactment of the biblical story.

In Yogyakarta, thousands of Catholics attended celebrations on Saturday night at the Santo Antonius Church in Kotabaru.

In his sermon, Father Wisnu Murti told parishioners that the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ had saved mankind.

“All our sins and mistakes were wiped out with the crucifixion. We rise today with Jesus and begin our new lives, with hope that we should not sin,” Wisnu said.

Claims of Pig Blood in Cigarette Filters Coughs Up a Cloud of Controversy

Not only is smoking deadly, but new research alleges that pigs' blood
is used in the manufacture of filters of the kind used in Indonesian cigarettes

In a claim likely to cause consternation from Muslim smokers, a Dutch author has published a book that claims that pig blood is used to make cigarette filters.

Pig 05049, written by Christien Meindertsma, lists 185 different ways that pigs’ body parts can be used, including in the manufacture of sweets, shampoo, bread, beer and bullets.

Pig hemoglobin is, according to the book, used to filter harmful chemicals in cigarettes.

The Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI) called on authorities to investigate the claims. “If the claim is true then the National Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), the Ministry of Health and the Indonesian Ulema Council’s Food and Drug Analysis Agency (LPPOM) should immediately conduct a sampling test,” Tulus Abadi, chairman of the YLKI, told the Jakarta Globe.

Tulus said that Indonesian cigarette producers were using imported filters because they are not produced locally.

If the claims are true, Tulus said, the government has a stronger case to take a stand against tobacco. “As the most populous Muslim country, we should be really careful, most smokers in Indonesia are Muslims. How would they feel if they found out that the cigarettes they smoke were made using pig hemoglobin?” he said.

MUI chairman Amidhan said that MUI would not comment on the matter and would not conduct any certification test unless there was a request from the cigarette industry or the importer.

“Smoking is offensive and for now that’s our stance. However this information should be regarded as a warning for smokers to be more aware,” he said.

Professor Simon Chapman from the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney was quoted on the university’s Web site as saying, “many devout Islamic and Jewish smokers and some vegetarians would be horrified to think they were putting a filter in their mouth which contained a pig product.”

Indonesian Islamists in Bogor Disrupt Otherwise Peaceful Good Friday

While most Christians peacefully held Good Friday services across the country on Friday, at least 1,000 churchgoers in Pa­rung, Bogor, had to pray at a restaurant after protests by Muslim hard-liners.

A church member told that on Thursday night the congregation held a two-hour service to observe White Thursday under tents erected on the vacant plot of land in Parung where their John the Baptist church was being built.

Gabriel Michael Kia Telok said the Mass ended peacefully, with police helping to direct traffic around the church construction site. However, some two hours later, a group claiming to belong to the Parung Ulema Forum came and staged a protest rejecting the construction of the church in the area. Gabriel said the protesters claimed the church did not have the necessary construction permits.

The group also threatened to disband forcefully any religious activities held there.

The church originally applied to Bogor authorities for permission to build the church in 1990 but has still not received any response.

“Some 200 young people came to our makeshift chapel and asked us to stop our prayers, which actually were already done. We were terrified, but after they negotiated with our church leaders, the group agreed to move their protest to the Parung district office,” Gabriel said.

To ensure the safety of the congregation, the church leaders decided to move the Good Friday service to a building owned by the local education office, but a miscommunication forced them to move the venue again to a restaurant owned by a church member.

“It’s not the first time the group has staged a protest. Protests also occurred during Easter celebrations in 2008 and Christmas services in 2009,” Gabriel said.

News of the incident spread on microblogging and social networking Web sites, with many offering sympathy and condemning the intimidation. One Facebook user asked: “Is this a permanent incident, as Catholics are not allowed to pray inside their own churches in Bekasi?”

She was referring to an incident last year in which Muslim hard-liners attacked a church under construction in Bekasi. In addition to threats of violence, Indonesian minority religious groups say they face difficulties in obtaining the necessary permits to build places to worship.

According to the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, there were 139 cases of violation of the freedom to worship in Indonesia in 2009.

Indonesian Police Arrest More Terrorism Suspects

Police have arrested three more people suspected of links to the armed group being hunted down in Aceh, a national police spokesman said on Wednesday.

Comr. I Ketut Untung Yoga Ana said the three men, identified as Aman Abdurrahman, Abu Musa and Kuncoro, were arrested in Bekasi and Sumedang, West Java, over the weekend.

“They were involved with the armed group that held military training in Aceh,” he said.

News of the arrests came as Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar announced on Wednesday that all convicted terrorists would in the future be allowed to have cellphones inside their cells.

“I am confirming that we will allow all terrorist suspects to have cellphones inside their cells as long as they ask permission from us,” he said.

Patrialis was speaking on the sidelines of the 12th anniversary of the founding of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) in Central Jakarta.

However, he refused to explain this controversial policy. “I can’t talk about the reason because it is related to national secrets,” he said.

The government has been criticized for letting down its guard after jailed terrorists were found to be in possession of cellphones and communicating with active terrorist networks outside of prison.

Sidney Jones, a terrorism expert at the International Crisis Group, said earlier on Wednesday that poor monitoring in prisons had allowed new militant groups to develop.

“[The Indonesian government] must escalate its current monitoring in prisons,” she said, adding that the country has no need for a special prison for terrorists.

At a discussion on terrorism held by the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club, Jones said the lack of surveillance of imprisoned terrorists made it easier for them to expand their networks and plan attacks. She said some of the militants arrested in Aceh last month had met in prison.

She noted that Aman served time at the Sukamiskin Penitentiary in Bandung. Aman was arrested for his involvement in a bomb-making cell in 2004. “He gained a large number of followers in Jakarta after he was released in July 2008,” she said.

Jones said her research team had found militants with several cellphones inside their cells, including one with 15 cellphones.

Earlier this month, convicted terrorist Iwan Dharmawan, also known as Rois Abu Syaukat, was reported to have had eight cellphones with him while serving time at Jakarta’s Cipinang prison and to have been communicating with his networks in Aceh.

Meanwhile, in Denpasar on Tuesday, Untung Sugiyono, the director general of penitentiaries at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, vowed to “reevaluate where we failed” in handling militant inmates.

Nasir Abbas, a former JI member who is now assisting the police, said new militant groups had been formed after key terrorist leaders Noordin M Top and Dulmatin were killed in raids in 2009 and this year. “Several members of JI now think the group is sleeping and not productive, so they are frustrated and have formed new groups,” he said.

UN spokesman Michele Zaccheo said a temporary ban on foreign staff traveling to Aceh remained in place despite the arrests.

Captured members of the Aceh militant group claimed to have made surveys on possible targets in Aceh, including UN-related offices, according to the police.

Pre-Dawn Prayer Too Early? Indonesian Clerics Suggest Wiggle Room

After recently shocking many by issuing a religious edict banning smoking, the country’s second-largest Islamic organization has stirred a new controversy by saying it would discuss whether the predawn prayer time for Muslims was too early.

“The time for the predawn prayer in Indonesia is the earliest, compared to other countries,” Syamsul Anwar, the chair of the Muhammadiyah’s lawmaking council, said on Wednesday from Surabaya.

While there, he met with East Java Governor Sukarwo to inform him of the organization’s national meeting in Malang on April 1-4.

“If the morning prayer is a bit later, maybe more [Muslims] will perform the prayer,” Syamsul added.

He said the issue of the predawn prayer was one of the things Muhammadiyah’s central board was planning to take up at the meeting.

The morning prayer for Indonesian Muslims starts when the sun is 20 degrees under the horizon (the point when the sun starts rising), or about 4:45 a.m. in the western part of the country.

Syamsul said the time for the predawn prayer in Morocco starts when the sun is 18 degrees under the horizon, while in Egypt it is when the sun is 19.5 degrees under the horizon.

“Actually, the predawn prayer time here does not violate the rule as according to the Islamic law. It should be done between 20 degrees to zero degrees,” he said.

The Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) and the Religious Affairs Ministry were quick to brush aside the idea, saying the prayer times have been considered thoroughly.

“The predawn prayer time in Indonesia is correct,” said an MUI chairman, Ma’ruf Amin.

Nasaruddin Umar, the Ministry of Religious Affairs’ Islamic directorate general, concurred, saying the prayer time had been determined after a thorough consideration involving all elements of Muslim society and experts, including astronomers.

Nahdlatul Ulama’s West Java chairman, Havidz Usman, took a more conciliatory approach to the question.

“We set the time based on the Koran, but we welcome a discussion should there be strong evidence that our predawn prayer time is not correct,” he said.

Obama is Welcome in Indonesia, Say Leading Muslim Groups

US President Barack Obama must be welcomed as a guest during his much-anticipated state visit next week , say moderate Indonesian Islamic groups, including Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah.

“The Prophet himself also had diplomatic ties with adherents of other faiths,” said NU chief Hasyim Muzadi on Monday. He said Obama had shown good intentions in efforts to improve ties between the US and Islamic world.

But conservative Islamic organization Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia said on Tuesday that it rejected Obama’s visit, claiming it was aimed only at boosting America’s economic interests here.

HTI spokesman Muhamad Ismail Yusanto said the US enjoys Indonesia’s abundant natural resources, with many US oil and mining companies operating here. The fact that Obama lived here as a child did not warrant special treatment, he added.

On day two of his March 23-25 visit, Obama will deliver a rallying call to the Muslim world, his first since a historic speech in Cairo last year. “He’ll be able to speak to some of the progress that’s been made and that needs to be made on the issues that he spoke to in Cairo,” said Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communications.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Teuku Faizasyah confirmed that Indonesia and the US would also sign a comprehensive partnership agreement during the visit. The accord, covering education, cultural exchanges, security ties, trade and investment, will be evaluated in a more structured way with “perspicuous aims and a time frame” through a ministerial forum, Teuku said. “Previously, programs were conducted based on priority in each sector.”

Obama’s visit was delayed by three days, and the White House has confirmed that he will not visit the schools he attended in Jakarta, or the houses he lived in.

Obama is the first US president in at least a decade to visit Southeast Asia for anything other than a regional summit, a move said to reflect an effort to strengthen ties with emerging nations.
Key parts of next week’s visit:

Tuesday Arrival in Jakarta. Press conference with President Yudhoyono, then a state dinner.

Wednesday Speech intended to build on his address in Cairo last year. Meetings with local business leaders.

Thursday To Bali. Presentation from civil society groups on democracy in Indonesia. Departure to Canberra. 

Militants in Aceh Are Jemaah Islamiyah, Say Indonesian Police

Anti terror police searching for Islamic militants in Aceh Besar

National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said on Tuesday that armed militants on the run in the remote mountains of Aceh are part of the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terrorist network.

Bambang said the militants, who have been the target of a bloody three-week police manhunt across the province, had been undergoing terrorist training in Jalin Jantho, Aceh Besar district, before their camp was raided on Feb. 22.

“They are all members of the regional Jemaah Islamiyah network, who are most wanted for their role in a string of bombings,” he said.

JI is a Southeast Asian network affiliated with Al Qaeda. The group is blamed for killing 202 people in Bali in 2002 and 12 others at the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in 2003.

A splinter JI group led by Noordin M Top, who was killed last year in a police raid in Central Java, is blamed for bombing the Australian Embassy in 2004, as well as last July’s twin bombings of the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta.

Authorities have said the Aceh militants were linked to alleged terrorists shot dead or captured last week in Tangerang. In the past three weeks, police have killed seven people and arrested 31 in operations in Aceh, Jakarta, Banten and West Java.

“We are still chasing the rest of the network’s members,” Bambang said.

He also dismissed earlier speculation that the militants in Aceh were former members of the defunct separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which signed a peace agreement with the central government in 2005.

“It’s purely Jemaah Islamiyah. The network is up to something in Aceh,” he said, without elaborating.

Ansyaad Mbai, head of the counterterrorism desk at the Coordinating Ministry for Legal, Political and Security Affairs, was reported as saying last week that terrorists could be targeting the busy sea lanes in the Malacca Strait off Aceh’s southeast coast.

However, Ansyaad said JI was so fractured due to counter-terrorism efforts that any militant group could claim to carry its banner.

Bambang on Tuesday visited the Leupung Police station in remote Aceh Besar to honor local officers who shot dead two alleged JI terrorists on Friday and arrested eight others. In a speech, the National Police chief identified the two dead suspects as Encang Kurnia, 31, and Pura Sudirman, a k a Jaja, 40, both from Bandung.

He said they were JI members and had been on the most-wanted list of Densus 88, the National Police’s counter-terrorism squad.

He said Sudirman’s younger brother, Tono, another suspected terrorist still on the loose and most likely in Aceh, was involved in a planned attack on the motorcade of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last year that was disrupted by police.

“He [Tono] is armed with an AK-47 and very dangerous,” he said.

Bambang reminded the public that the manhunt in Aceh was not over.

“There are still 14 remaining dangerous men [on the most-wanted list] walking free around us who are highly skilled,” Bambang said.

Obama To Delay Trip Over Key Vote

US President Barack Obama is delaying his trip to Indonesia next week to focus on pushing through key health care reforms at home. US media reported that the White House made the announcement on the Twitter feed of the press secretary, Robert Gibbs. “The President will delay leaving for Indonesia and Australia — will now leave Sunday — the First Lady and the girls will not be on the trip,” Gibbs wrote. A senior administration official also told The Associated Press that Obama now planned to leave Washington on March 21 and return March 26. The original dates were March 18-24. Obama will visit the same countries as planned: Indonesia, Guam and Australia. The trip was scheduled to coincide with his daughters’ spring vacation, but it now appears the president’s family will not accompany him. On Thursday, Gibbs had said Obama would not delay the trip, even if lawmakers failed to satisfy White House hopes for a crucial House of Representatives vote on the health care bill by March 18. “The president believes it is an extremely important trip, it’s an important region of the world, and these are important partners,” Gibbs said. “Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, obviously has seen, as many countries including ours have seen, the impacts of horrific terrorist activities.” Gibbs also said Obama would attend a conference on the promotion of democracy and use his stay to build on a speech he gave last year to the Islamic world from Cairo urging better ties with the United States. The visit comes amid a new antiterrorism campaign launched by Indonesian police that has so far netted 31 terrorist suspects and killed eight, including Dulmatin, one of the most wanted terrorists in the region whom the US State Department had placed a $10 million bounty on. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last month that her country wanted more counterterrorism and military cooperation with Indonesia. But she told lawmakers that America must make sure that human rights abuses did not resume. She said the Obama administration believed it was possible to satisfy US laws and expand cooperation with a country that had been subject to American sanctions over past human rights abuses. US officials had earlier suggested the Defense Department was seeking to provide training for the Indonesian Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus), members of which have in the past been implicated in serious human rights violations. US training for Kopassus has been restricted for more than a decade because of concerns about its human rights record and lack of accountability over abuses. In the US State Department’s 2009 Country Report on Human Rights Practices released on Thursday, the US government noted Indonesia’s respect for human rights in general over the past year, but said problems remained. As in previous years, it highlighted as ongoing problems killings by security forces, harsh prison conditions, judicial corruption, violence and sexual abuse against women and children, people trafficking, child labor and failure to enforce labor standards and worker rights.

Obama Visit Likely Fueled Terror Raids: Analysts

Barack Obama is expected to arrive with his family later this month

US President Barack Obama’s planned visit to Indonesia this month has lent new impetus to raids that have left one top militant dead and his band of Islamist extremists on the ropes, analysts say. “The most important and powerful leader in the world is coming to Indonesia, so the authorities have to tame any possible attack by jihadists,” Noor Huda Ismail, an Indonesian analyst of extremism. Obama along with First Lady Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha are expected to visit Indonesia from March 20 to 22 before heading on to Australia, although the US Embassy in Jakarta said on Wednesday that the dates were still unconfirmed. In Canberra Wednesday, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono confirmed the death in a police raid of Dulmatin, one of the masterminds of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. Dulmatin, who had a 10-million-dollar US bounty on his head, was shot dead along with two other people on Tuesday near Jakarta. Their deaths were the latest in a crackdown launched on February 22 when police raided an extremist training camp in a remote part of Aceh province. Since the Aceh operation, police say they have arrested 22 terror suspects, including firearms suppliers and financiers. Analysts say the arrests may have yielded valuable intelligence on Dulmatin’s terror group Jemaah Islamiyah. JI, whose mission is to enforce a Muslim caliphate across Southeast Asia, was inspired by Al-Qaeda and is blamed for multiple incidents across Indonesia including the 2002 carnage in Bali and attacks on Jakarta hotels last year. Ismail said the recent crackdown had left JI “completely crippled”. But he warned that the terror threat remained, especially with the “emergence of many splinter groups who support the idea of the use of violence”. Malaysian extremist Noordin Mohammad Top, the leader of a bloodthirsty splinter faction of the JI, was killed by Indonesian security forces in September. Indonesian authorities said the Obama visit was likely to go ahead as planned, which one analyst called a “vote of confidence” by the United States in Muslim-majority Indonesia’s ability to maintain security. “The US is well aware of the security situation everywhere. If they don’t feel safe, they won’t let the president go,” John Harrison, a security analyst at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said. The recent operations show “how serious Indonesia is”, he said, and are “a recognition of the capabilities that they have to react responsibly when there’s information”. Singapore-based terrorism analyst Rohan Gunaratna said the death of Dulmatin was “a significant victory for the fight against terrorism in Asia”. JI has carried out more than 50 bombings in Indonesia since April 1999, according to the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, including the 2002 Bali bombings and attacks on the resort island in 2005 that killed 20. But analysts believe the capacity of JI and splinter groups to wage terror has been seriously curbed since the July 17 bombings on two luxury hotels in Jakarta. Noordin’s death came as part of the subsequent investigation. Indonesia’s anti-terror clampdown may have broader implications beyond Asia. Aceh governor Irwandi Yusuf said Tuesday that several of the arrested suspects had been recruited in January 2009 to help battle Israel’s military incursion into the Gaza Strip. “Intelligence has uncovered their intentions to set up a base for a Southeast Asian terror network,” he told a news conference.

Indonesian Police Confirm Dulmatin DNA Match; Two Others Were Bodyguards

Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri holding up a photo of Dulmatin

The DNA of a man killed in yesterday's terror raids matches with a sample from the mother of highly-sought terror suspect Dulmatin, a doctor announced on Wednesday. Brig. Gen. Dr. Bambang Ibnu S, who heads Indonesian Police Medical and Health Services, said he was 100 percent certain the man was Dulmatin. Police identified the two other men killed as Ridwan and Hasan Nur, Dulmatin's bodyguards. Bambang said experts identified Dulmatin's body first by distinguishing physical features and existing photos. Then they matched the DNA sample with that of 60-year-old Masniati. Authorities have said they believe Dulmatin and his associates were linked with a terrorist camp in Aceh. A massive operation to hunt down members of the camp is still ongoing.

Detonators Found in Internet Cafe Where Dulmatin Died


Indonesian police said Wednesday they seized three detonators for remote-controlled bombs at the Internet cafe on Jakarta's outskirts where fugitive militant leader Dulmatin was killed this week. National police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri told reporters that the devices were ready to be used, but refused to say whether any explosives had been found in Tuesday's raid on the Internet cafe in Pamulang. "We found detonators to be used to trigger bombs from a distance," he said. Dulmatin, an Al-Qaeda trained bomb specialist with a 10 million dollar US bounty on his head, was killed by police in Pamulang, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Wednesday, confirming earlier police reports. Danuri also said that 28 suspects and three policemen had been killed in anti-terror raids conducted by security forces in various parts of Indonesia since February 22. He said the raids were targeting Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the Southeast Asian extremist group inspired by Al-Qaeda and blamed for multiple attacks across Indonesia, including the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people. Danuri said police had seized explosives, nine firearms and tens of thousand of bullets, including those suitable for assault rifles such M-16 and AK-47s, in the raids in Aceh, West Java and Jakarta. "The series of raids are not over yet... we will continue our efforts to fight all the terrorist activities in Indonesia. We will never stop," he said.

Terrorists ‘Still a Strong Threat’ to Indonesia
Despite the confirmed death of terrorist mastermind Dulmatin, a resurgent and expanding militant network still posed serious security concerns, experts warned on Wednesday. Andi Widjajanto, a military analyst from the University of Indonesia, said regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah, blamed for a string of deadly terrorist attacks including the 2002 Bali bombings, appeared to be growing stronger as it was now no longer solely based in Java. “They are recruiting new members outside Java and developing new cells,” he said. “We estimate that there are 300 active JI members spread nationwide with [an additional] 240 released terrorist convicts. This does not include many people who are being trained secretly.” National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, addressing a news conference earlier on Wednesday, said JI was regrouping despite the fact police had killed or captured more than 400 terrorist suspects since 2002. “JI always reorganizes itself,” Bambang said. “We should remain alert to this threat even though we’ve already killed several of their leaders and captured more than 400 terror suspects.” Bambang said the police believed Dulmatin, who allegedly established a shadowy paramilitary training camp in Aceh, had encouraged raising funds by robbing non-Muslims. JI has in the past used armed robberies to fund its terrorist attacks. Brig. Gen. Surya Dharma, the National Police’s former antiterror chief, told the Jakarta Globe that the recent police raids on militants in Aceh and Java were proof that JI was still a presence and was changing its tactics. He said police had been concerned for some time that JI would adopt the same tactics as Abu Sayyaf, a violent Muslim separatist group based in the southern Philippines, which favors kidnapping for ransom and hit-and-run attacks. Those fears were heightened when it became apparent that Dulmatin, who is closely linked to Muslim separatist groups in the Philippines, returned to Indonesia, Surya said. Andi said Dulmatin’s return was to fill the power vacuum left after JI’s former leader, Noordin M Top, was killed last year. But Noor Huda Ismail, head of the Institute for International Peacebuilding, said the peace deal struck between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Philippine government was more likely to have prompted his return. Meanwhile, Andi said three dangerous terrorist suspects still remained at large, namely Upik Lawangga, Umar Patek and Zulkarnaen. Both Umar and Zulkarnean are wanted by the US government for their roles in the 2002 Bali bombings, while Zulkarnean is believed by some analysts to now head JI. “Umar Patek is still on the run; we don’t know where he is,” Andi said. “The latest information has placed Zulkarnaen in Sabah, Malaysia. The third person is Upik Lawangga and he’s believed to be in Poso, Central Sulawesi, developing a new group.” He said that JI had selected Aceh and other places off Java for its bases as part of a “new pattern of terrorism.” Aside from being a former conflict area, Aceh was also suitable as a base as it was near the Malacca Strait, providing a good vantage for both escape and spreading terrorism, Andi said.

Tangerang Terror Raids: A Timeline


The terrorist raids in Pamulang, Tangerang took place less than an hour apart on Tuesday. Here's how they happened.

Raid 1. Multiplus Business Center at Jalan Siliwangi Pamulang, Tangerang

11 am Dulmatin comes to Multiplus to use the internet service, wearing a black jacket. He goes straight to the internet cafe on the second floor.

11.30 am The Densus 88 anti-terror squad arrives. They order other people in the building to flee and proceed to the second floor. Gunshots are heard. Police say Dulmatin was sending an email when he died.

11.45 am Police detain a woman and three children in the building. Their relationship to Dulmatin is unclear.

Noon Police bring a body bag into the building

12.15 pm The body is carried out to a waiting ambulance.

Raid 2. Jalan Setiabudi 15 Pamulang, Tangerang

12.20 pm Police raid a house belonging to a man named Doctor Fauzi. Two suspects, Ridwan and Hasan Nur, are shot as they attempt to flee on a motorbike while allegedly shooting at police. According to National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri, Ridwan and Hasan were Dulmatin's bodyguards.

12.45 The bodies were taken with two ambulances to National Police Hospital in East Jakarta. Police arrest two more people near the location with the initials BR and SB.

Top Indonesian Terrorist Dulmatin Believed Slain by Police Gunfire

Paramedics from a police hospital carrying the body of suspected militant

Anti-terror police and plain-clothed policemen carry
the body of a suspected Islamic militant
from an internet cafe in Pamulang

The body of a suspected terrorist lying near his motorcycle
after he was shot by members of the police’s Densus 88 on
Jalan Setiabudi in Pamulang, Tangerang.
Dulmatin, a mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings,
is believed to have beenkilled in a previous raid nearby

Fingerprint analysis has yet to establish a definitive identity, but antiterrorism police officers were already seen praising God and rejoicing on the outskirts of the capital on Tuesday, believing a man they shot dead during a fierce gun battle was Dulmatin, one of the masterminds of the 2002 Bali bombings that claimed 202 lives. Regardless of whether the man killed in an unassuming shop in Tangerang was indeed one of the most wanted terrorists in Southeast Asia, the killing is being seen as a major victory in the country’s fight against terrorism. “The man who was shot was an influential figure in the history of terrorism in Indonesia. He masterminded paramilitary drills in Jantho [Aceh],” said Brig. Gen. Tito Karnavian, the head of the Densus 88 antiterrorism unit. Dulmatin, who has gone by a list of aliases, including Asmar Usman, Joko Pitono, Nova and Yahya Ibrohim, is the country’s most wanted terrorist fugitive after Malaysian national Noordin Mohamad Top was killed last September in a police raid. “We thank God that the man we shot at the Multiplus shop-house [on Jalan Siliwangi in Pamulang] is Dulmatin. His ID card says that he is Yahya,” a source said. Dulmatin is a leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist organization and an Al Qaeda-trained bomb-making specialist. Ansyaad Mbai, the head of the antiterrorism desk at the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, said that if the man gunned down was Dulmatin, it will have “significant implications, because the terrorist organization would have lost a very vital figure.” “He wanted to replace Noordin Top. He was being hunted down via massive operations in the southern Philippines where he had been hiding.” The man was one of three people killed in two raids just before and after noon in Pamulang, South Tangerang, on Tuesday. Police confirmed later that they had also arrested three suspected militants in Pamulang, including a woman. National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang said police were forced to kill the man suspected to be Dulmatin. “He had taken a shot at police. His revolver had five bullets in the magazine and seven bullets were found in his pockets,” Edward said. The two others killed, identified only as R and H, were shot on Jalan Setiabudi 12, about a kilo­meter from the Multiplus business service center on Jalan Siliwangi, where the man believed to be Dulmatin was shot dead. “The two were trying to escape on a Suzuki Thunder [motor­cycle],” Edward said, adding that they pointed a gun at police. After the shootings, police raided a house located on Asem, an alleyway not far from Jalan Setiabudi, and emerged with two men wearing only underwear. “We believe that those captured today have terror links with the Aceh group. We, however, did not find any explosives on them or the places we raided today,” Edward said. He added that a woman was later arrested. “We can confirm that those arrested in Jakarta and West Java [over the weekend] were gun suppliers and financiers [of terrorist activities in Aceh], including the ones shot and captured in Pamulang,” Edward said, referring to the militant group in Aceh that police have been hunting in a massive operation since Feb. 22. To date, 22 suspected terrorists have been captured in Aceh, West Java and Jakarta since the operation began. The latest suspect, a fisherman identified as Hendri Marlan Saputra, 28, was arrested in Muara Batu, North Aceh, on Tuesday. Three policemen, two civilians and a suspected militant have been killed in the operation in Aceh so far. When asked whether Tuesday’s arrests had anything to do with Jemaah Islamiyah, Edward said: “What is for sure is that this group has nothing to do with the separatist Free Aceh Movement [GAM] or its former members.” GAM disbanded after a 2005 peace pact ended almost three decades of separatist conflict in Aceh. All three captured in Pamulang were taken into police custody and are being interrogated at the headquarters of the National Police’s elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) in Kelapa Dua, Depok. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono confirmed Wednesday that suspected terror mastermind Dulmatin had been killed in a police raid in Jakarta. The president, on a three-day visit to Australia, said a raid against militants hiding out in the capital had resulted in the death of the man believed to have been behind the 2002 bombings on the resort island of Bali. "We can confirm that one of those that were killed was Mr Dulmatin, one of the top Southeast Asian terrorists that we have been looking for," Yudhoyono said through an interpreter in Canberra.

MUI Group Urges Politeness, Dialogue During Obama's Indonesia Visit

Despite protests from hard-line Islamic groups, the chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulema on Monday said Indonesia should be a good host and show respect to United States President Barack Obama when he visits later this month. “Above all, we need to show him that Muslims in this country are moderate,” said Amidhan, chairman of the council, also known as MUI. “Therefore, we must welcome him.” Over the weekend, some 750 ulema, or religious scholars, from the East Java branch of the conservative Islamic organization Hizbut Tahrir signed an agreement expressing opposition to Obama’s visit, “because he is the head of a country that has been fighting Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Pakistan.” Hard-line preacher Abu Bakar Bashir, once dubbed the spiritual leader of the regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah, told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday that Obama should not be welcomed in Muslim countries as long as American troops were fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. “America is a great infidel because it fights Islam,” he said. Amidhan said it was normal for some groups to express resistance to Obama’s visit. He added that Obama’s policy on the Middle East would be discussed, since the president kept sending troops to Afghanistan. He said he hoped the government could set up a dialogue between the US president and religious leaders here. Amidhan said that Islamic leaders should be given a chance to talk with Obama upon his visit, and that the economic relationship between the two countries should be discussed, so that Indonesia would not suffer in any deals with the US. “Many cooperative efforts, for example in the mining industry, still favor the US,” he said. “We need to persuade President Obama to change this.” Ma’ruf Amin, MUI deputy chairman, told the Jakarta Globe that he understood the rallies held across the country prior the visit of the president. He acknowledged that some people might distrust Obama’s visit. “But in MUI, we keep thinking positively as long as Obama doesn’t continue Bush’s political policies, and if he executes some changes to standpoints that many Muslim people oppose,” he said. Ma’ruf seconded his colleague’s statement that it was better for Obama to listen to what religious figures in Indonesia wanted out of the bilateral relationship. He said the dialogue would be significant to the two countries’ future relationship. “MUI doesn’t ban the anti-Obama rallies, because it’s the people’s right [to protest]. We just don’t give any response,” he said. Amidhan also added that any trade agreement must be at least equally beneficial for both countries. He called on the government to take a stand and pursue what was profitable for Indonesia instead of simply following what the US suggested. “We have to have a win-win outcome in every agreement,” he said.

Papuans Clash With Police in Timika

Hundreds of supporters of a slain Papuan rebel leader pelted Indonesian police with stones Saturday as tensions flared ahead of the commander's funeral.Clashes erupted as a coffin carrying the body of Kelly Kwalik and draped in the outlawed flag of Papuan independence was placed on public display outside the parliament building in the southern Papuan town of Timika.The Free Papua Movement (OPM) commander was shot dead by police during a raid on his hideout on Wednesday.Up to 500 angry mourners started throwing stones at security forces after a local tribal leader made a fiery speech near parliament."The police managed to calm the people quickly. The clash occurred for about 10 to 15 minutes," Papua province police spokesman Agus Riyanto said."We are ready to serve the people by making the funeral as secure as possible. We'll secure not just the burial location, but also the route of the funeral," he added.A date for the funeral has not been set, tribal leaders said.Nerius Katagame, a leader of Kwalik's Amungme tribe, earlier riled Kwalik's supporters by telling them to express their discontent in writing to the Indonesian government, rather than taking to the streets."Only God knows the independence of Papua. It's not possible for us to go back to zero," Nerius Katagame told the crowd.OPM fighters, often using bows and arrows and World War II-era explosives, have waged a low-level insurgency against Indonesian rule of the resource-rich, ethnically Melanesian region since the mid-1960s.Police have linked Kwalik to a string of ambushes near Timika over the past six months targeting the operations of US miner Freeport McMoRan.An Australian mine technician was killed in one of the attacks in July, while in 2002 two US Freeport employees were killed in similar circumstances.Freeport's giant gold and copper mine has long been linked to human rights abuses involving Indonesian troops who secure the facility.In 1986 Kwalik's group allegedly kidnapped and killed eight Javanese students. He was also accused of ordering the kidnapping of 12 scientists including four Indonesians, four Britons, two Germans and two Dutch in 1996.Two of the Indonesians were killed in a military rescue operation that freed the hostages three months later.In 2001 he is said to have ordered the kidnapping of two Belgian journalists who were released after two months.Kwalik denied being involved in the attacks on a Web site posting. Despite the negligible military threat posed by the OPM, Indonesian courts have handed down stiff penalties from 20 years' jail to life for people caught with separatist symbols such as the red, white and blue Papuan flag.

Tensions Rise as Kwalik Body Awaits Positive ID

The police-announced death of Papuan pro-independence rebel Kelly Kwalik has inflamed supporters, leading analysts to worry about a rise in violence in the province. Hundreds of Papuans turned out to greet the body at the airport in Timika, where it was flown following an autopsy in the provincial capital, Jayapura. “This incident will create a new problem with the Papuans,” said Father John Jonga, the recipient of the 2009 Yap Thiam Hien Award, Indonesia’s most prestigious human rights honor. He said police should have captured Kwalik alive. Police claimed to have killed Kwalik, 60, on Wednesday but by Friday they had yet to officially identify the body. The family of the self-proclaimed military leader of the outlawed Free Papua Organization (OPM) declined to provide DNA samples and no fingerprint or dental records appear to exist. A former Mimika district police chief recognized the body, National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said in Jakarta on Friday. Preliminary identification was also made through videos and photos of Kwalik. Bambang said the police action was justified because Kwalik had used violence. Bambang accused Kwalik of being behind a series of attacks, starting with the abduction of a research group in central Papua in 1996. A rescue attempt in that incident left two Indonesian hostages dead. Kwalik was also involved in the 2002 ambush of a convoy of buses that killed a US national near the huge gold and copper mine operated by the Indonesian subsidiary of Freeport McMoRan and in a July shooting that killed an Australian project manager for Freeport, Bambang claimed. In a Web site posting, Kwalik had called himself a “general” of the West Papua National Liberation Army, the military wing of OPM. He also denied being involved in the shooting incidents, calling them a “pure conspiracy between the Indonesian police, the Army and Freeport.” In Sentani, near Jayapura, a rally held to mourn Kwalik’s death turned ugly when journalists covering the event were chased and harassed by some in the crowd of about 100. “I am worried that this incident will have a negative impact, like Kwalik’s supporters staging a riot,” said Johanis Harry Maturbong, the director of the Papua chapter of the Commission for Disappearances and Victims of Violence (Kontras). Harry said is was impossible to assess the impact on the OPM, since the group’s strength is unknown and the poorly armed rebels are split into several decentralized factions. Forkorius Yabusembut, head of Papua’s Traditional Council, said that “inhumane” killings of Papuans could “evoke a burning spirit” to fight for independence. Bambang said he expected calm and there was no need for the police or Army to send reinforcements to the region.

Indonesia Confiscates Explosives at Sea

Indonesian special forces soldiers demonstrate anti-terror skills
last month in Denpasar, Bali. Seventeen crewmen from
a seized boat carrying explosive materials are being
questioned for possible links to terrorism, authorities said

Officials say they have confiscated 75 tons of an explosive material being shipped from Malaysia to Indonesia and are investigating possible links to terrorism. Customs official Nasar Salim says the ammonium nitrate was found on a ship captured in the South China Sea. Ammonium nitrate can also be used as fertilizer, but Salim says 95 percent of the material imported into Indonesia is used in explosive devices. He says possible links to terrorists are being investigated. Salim said Friday that 17 crewmen are being questioned while police search for the shipment's owner. Indonesia has been ravaged by terrorist attacks in recent years that killed more than 250 people. Bombings at two Jakarta hotels in July killed seven people and wounded more than 50.

Two More Killed In Indonesian Antiterror Raids

Members of elite antiterrorism unit Detachment 88
alongside an ambulance carrying the bodies of
two terror suspects killed in a raid on Friday.

In the third successful yet deadly raid on suspected terrorist hideouts in the past two months, members of the police’s antiterror squad on Friday shot dead two men believed to have played key roles in the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotel bombings in July. The raid on a two-story boarding house in East Ciputat, Tangerang, took place at close to noon and the ensuing shootout lasted 15 minutes. Three homemade pipe bombs were hurled from inside the house. “The identity of the two bodies will be officially revealed on Monday as the forensic investigation is still ongoing. However, we believe the deceased are Syahrir and Syaifudin,” Insp. Gen. Nanan Soekarna, the National Police spokesman, said during a news conference. Nanan was referring to two brothers, Mohamad Syahrir, alias Aing, and Syaifudin Zuhri, both wanted in relation to the July 17 suicide bombings. Syahrir, he said, was also believed to have been behind a plot to hijack an airplane and crash it into a high-rise building. He is also a brother-in-law of Ibrahim, another suspect involved in the hotel bombings, who was shot dead during a police raid in Central Java in August. Syaifudin, a younger brother of Syahrir, is believed to have headed the hotel attacks and recruited the suicide bombers. Police last month released copies of a letter that Syaifudin had written in which he claimed to be the new leader of the Al Qaeda terrorist network for Southeast Asia. Nanan said that the raid followed a tip-off obtained from another terror suspect, only identified as Fr, who was arrested earlier on Friday in Bekasi, just east of Jakarta. An antiterror police source told the Jakarta Globe Fr, the third suspect, was now being questioned at a safe house in Jakarta. “We arrested him in Margahayu, East Bekasi, and he told us that he had been providing shelter for the two fugitives in Ciputat,” the source said. Asked why the police had killed the two suspects instead of trying to capture them, Nanan said: “We did not have a choice. They were throwing [pipe] bombs and we seized seven small bombs from their room.” The suspects’ bodies were taken to the National Police Hospital in East Jakarta for identification. Nanan said DNA samples from their families would be taken later on Friday to aid in the identification process. Suwarni, a housekeeper at the boarding house, said the room had been rented by a young man who identified himself as Soni. “He said he was studying at a university, majoring in science and technology and also working at a company in the Sudirman area,” she said. The house was not far from the State Islamic University. Also staying in the room was Soni’s friend, a dark-skinned man of medium height, whom Suwarni said she had never spoken to. “They sometimes worked night shifts and seldom talked to their housemates,” she said. But Suwarni said that Soni did not at all resemble the pictures of Syaifudin and Syahrir made public by the police. “I’m sure that the person on television didn’t live in this boarding house, unless he sneaked in at night. Then I wouldn’t know,” she said. Baharuddin, 17, who lives in the room next to Soni’s, also said that he was a 21-year-old student who rarely talked to his neighbors. Another tenant, Rizky, said a man named Dani was also staying in the room. Suwarni claimed that she had asked the new tenants to give her copies of their ID cards but that the two had not done so.

Indonesian Police Name 3 New Terror Suspects

The National Police on Friday identified three new terror suspects, including a woman who is five months pregnant. National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri named the suspects as Rahmat Puji Prabowo, a k a Bejo, Supono, a k a Kedu, and Putri Munawaroh. Bejo and Kedu were arrested in Pasar Gading, Solo, a day before the police killed suspected terror mastermind Noordin M Top on Sept. 17. Bambang said information from the suspects led the police to Noordin’s hideout in nearby Kepuhsari. Bejo is thought to have helped hide Noordin, while Kedu has been linked to the transport of explosives to a Bekasi house that was raided last month, leading to the deaths of two terror suspects. Putri was the wife of Hadi Susilo, a k a Adib, who rented the house in Kepuhsari where Noordin, who was wanted for a string of deadly bomb attacks over the past few years, was killed. Hadi also died in the raid, while Putri was shot in the leg and later flown to the National Police Hospital in East Jakarta, along with the bodies of the four terror suspects killed in the raid. “Munawaroh and her husband provided the house to hide [the terror suspects],” Bambang said. “Moreover, they were also involved in other activities, including preparing explosive materials. Their roles are clear.” Bambang also announced that the police would not allow the families of the four dead suspects to claim the bodies until Thursday. Family representatives are already in Jakarta to retrieve the remains. “We will have finished [the investigation] by Wednesday, but due to internal matters we will only let the families take the bodies on Thursday,” Bambang said, adding that the police would not comment on where the suspectsshould be buried. “It is the family’s right to decide where they will bury the bodies,” he said. “Our work is to arrest them. We will probably support [the families] by providing facilities such as cars.” Hadi’s family has said that they wanted to bury him in Solo. The families of the other suspects, Bagus Budi Pranoto, a k a Urwah, and Ario Sudarso, a k a Aji, have said they want to bury them in their hometowns in Kudus and Purbalingga, respectively. Protests have been held in all three locations against the planned burials. In another development on Friday, Bambang said the Malaysian police were prepared to repatriate Noordin’s body, which is still being held at the National Police Hospital in Jakarta. On Thursday, two Malaysian police representatives visited the hospital but did not offer any comments. Noordin’s family, including his wife and children, are likely to arrive in Jakarta on Saturday, state-run news agency Antara quoted a family spokesman as saying. Antara reported that the spokesman, Datuk Badaruddin Ismail, was still preparing all the documents needed to claim Noordin’s remains. Ismail said Noordin’s wife Siti Rahma, three of his three children and his brother Yahya would probably make the trip from the southern Malaysian state of Johor. Noordin is to be buried in the Pontian area of Johor Baharu, close to where his family and wife live. During his nine years in Indonesia, Noordin is known to have married at least two local women.

Indonesia’s Terror Burial Anger Boils Over

Solo. The suspected terrorists killed here last week continued to cause trouble on Thursday, with anger between groups of armed protesters over one of their burials nearly sparking a street battle. Bagus Budi Pranoto, a k a Urwah; Ario Sudarso, a k a Aji; and Susilo, a k a Adib, were shot dead along with Southeast Asia’s most wanted terrorist, Malaysian Noordin M Top, during a raid on Susilo’s rented house in Kepuhsari near Solo, on Sept. 17. Urwah’s family wants to bury him in their home village in Kudus, Central Java, but has this week faced strong opposition from locals there, while Aji’s family has also generated anger over their plan to bury him in his home village of Purbalingga, also in Central Java. Susilo’s family and neighbors have prepared for him to be buried at Solo’s Pracimoloyo public cemetery. Thursday’s stand-off came as a result of friction over posters criticizing Susilo’s burial. A group calling itself the Alliance of Solo Youth Organizations on Wednesday night put up scores of banners expressing their objections. Later that night they were pulled down by members of the Solo chapters of two radical Islamic groups — the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and the Jamaah Anshorut Tauhid, chaired by hard-line Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. Alliance supporters put up new posters on Thursday morning, and when the FPI and JAT members tried to pull them down again around noon, the rival groups swelled to about 800 people, mainly from the FPI and JAT. The stand-off occurred on Solo’s busy main thoroughfare, Jalan Slamet Riyadi, although armed officers from the police’s elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) unit dispersed the crowd before they clashed. Police arrested six FPI and four JAT members for possessing weapons including rocks, sticks, knives and chains, Solo Police Chief Sr. Comr. Joko Irwanto said. “If there is enough evidence to support the case, they will be charged with violating Article 170 of the Criminal Law on violence against people and property.” He said the alliance had a police permit to conduct a rally and put up the banners, so removing them was criminal. “Especially because they were caught red-handed with weapons that might cause injury to others,” he said. Alliance coordinator Kusumo Putro, said the posters, with slogans such as: “Solo United Against Terrorists,” reflected the community’s sentiments. “We don’t want the people of Solo, who are actually friendly and against terrorism, to become victims of terrorist propaganda,” he said. Khoirul Rus Suparjo, FPI chairman in Solo, said he regretted the arrests of the group’s members, especially because it allegedly involved police violence. “Even if they had to make the arrests, there was no need to beat them.” Sholeh Ibrahim, a JAT leader from Bashir’s Al Mukmin Islamic boarding school in nearby Ngruki, agreed, saying it had been a “peaceful rally.” Central Java Police Chief Insp. Gen. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo said he could sympathize with the anger felt by residents. “Poor Solo. Its people are actually kind and friendly, but because of the terrorists, with the ring leader even killed here, the city’s image had been more or less besmirched,” he said. Meanwhile, in the suburb of Kagokan, where Susilo’s parents live, residents said they had prepared a grave at a local cemetery two kilometers away. “Even though [Susilo] turned out not to be a good citizen outside of his village, he remains remembered as a good citizen here,” said Katino, a neighborhood head. Meanwhile, Endro Sudarsono, a lawyer representing the families of Urwah, Aji and Susilo, said representatives would collect the bodies from Jakarta on Friday.

Shots Fired in Solo Terror Raid

Police stand guard on the perimeter of a raid
in Solo early on Thursday morning.

Police and witnesses say shots have been fired during a raid by counterterrorism forces in Indonesia's Central Java. Police at the scene said the operation was carried out by an anti-terror unit. Witnesses said shots were heard for several hours as police cordoned off a house on the outskirts of the city of Solo, a stronghold for hardline Islamist groups. The shooting comes amid an investigation into suicide bombings on the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta in July. The attacks killed seven people and ended nearly four years without terrorist strikes in Indonesia.