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Viewing cable 07JAKARTA312, Indonesian Police Capture Key Militants

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07JAKARTA312 2007-02-06 09:07 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Jakarta
VZCZCXRO9100
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #0312/01 0370907
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 060907Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3159
INFO RUEHZS/ASEAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0407
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 1332
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI
ZEN/AMCONSUL SURABAYA
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000312 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FROM AMCONSUL SURABAYA 0010 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, DRL 
DEPT FOR DS/T/ATA, DS/IP/ITA, DS/DO/ICI, DS/IP/EAP 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958 
TAGS: PTER PINS PGOV PNAT KJUS KISL ASEC ID
SUBJECT: Indonesian Police Capture Key Militants 
 
Ref A: Jakarta 152, 
Ref B: Jakarta 194, 
Ref C: Jakarta 229 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Indonesian National Police (INP) units in Poso, 
Central Sulawesi nabbed three key militants on February 1 in 
on-going operations there.  Shortly afterward, two other militants 
sought by the INP surrendered to authorities.  The lead suspect, 
Basri, one of the most violent figures in the Central Sulawesi 
mujahiddin, is implicated in much of Poso's recent sectarian 
violence including the 2004 murder of Rev. Susianti Tinulele, the 
2004 Anugerah Church attack in Palu and the October 2005 beheadings 
of three Christian girls.  Our contacts report that there has been 
no local response by religious leaders to the arrests and Poso is 
running normally and hope Basri's arrest will encourage other 
members of the wanted list to surrender to police without further 
bloodshed.  Police continue pressuring militants in the Poso area, 
and found a cache of over 39 homemade explosives and various weapons 
in an Islamic school in Poso's Tanah Runtuh area.  END SUMMARY 
 
Five Wanted List Suspects in Police Custody 
------------------------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) In the latest results of INP efforts to round up the most 
wanted suspects behind the violence that has plagued Central 
Sulawesi over the past several years (Ref A), police units in the 
Poso area on February 1 captured top suspected militants Basri, 
Ardin (a.k.a. Rojak) and Hariyanto.  These arrests were followed by 
the surrender of two other key suspects, Yudi Parsan and Amril 
Ngiode (aka Aat).  Basri had been wounded in a January 22 INP raid 
(Ref B), and he and Hariyanto did not resist arrest.  Ardin, 
however, was wounded in a shoot out with police prior to his 
capture. 
 
3. (SBU) The five suspects are tied to a rogues gallery of Central 
Sulawesi Muslim extremists behind much of the area's violence since 
2001, and associated with the local Jemaah Islamiyah (JI)-linked 
Anak Tanah Runtuh (ATR) group and the local Kompak-linked Kayamanya 
group.  Basri, the lead figure among the five suspects, was wanted 
by police as one of the most violent leaders of mujahiddin in Poso, 
and is tied to ATR leader Adnan Arsal, and Adnan's son-in-law 
Hasanudin, who is currently standing trial as the former head of JI 
in Poso.  In his thirties, Basri is a graduate of JI combat training 
and a member of an elite paramilitary group of Poso area mujahidin 
since at least 2000, according to a recent International Crisis 
Group report by JI expert Sidney Jones, and is known as an expert 
marksman and sniper.  Among other crimes, Basri is implicated in the 
2004 murder of Rev. Susianti Tinulele, the 2004 Anugerah Church 
attack in Palu, the 2004 beheading of the Pinedapa village chief, 
and the October 2005 beheadings of three Christian girls. 
 
4. (SBU) The INP offered a $11,100 (Rp. 100 million) reward for 
Basri's capture, and reported publicly that a tip sent via text 
message (SMS) led to Basri's arrest.  According our contacts, the 
reward likely provided a strong incentive for local residents to 
report Basri's location.  He was notorious as a local thug prior to 
joining the Central Sulawesi conflict and is not respected as an 
Islamic scholar.  The local opinion seems to be that he used radical 
Islamic teachings merely as a pretext to continue his anti-social 
behavior.  The leader of a human rights NGO in Poso told us that 
Wiwin Kalahe, one of the wanted list members previously arrested, 
admitted to police that he participated in the beheading of the 
three Christian girls under threat to him and his family by Basri, 
if he did not carry out the attack. 
 
5. (SBU) Amril Ngiode (aka Aat), who surrendered to authorities on 
February 2, is another graduate of JI training and a member of the 
same elite group of mujahidin as Basri.  INP documents indicate that 
Amril, in his late twenties, is suspected of participating in the 
May 2005 Tentena market bombing (23 killed, est. 100 injured) with 
Irwan Irano (arrested 2005 and currently on trial) and Ardin.  Amril 
is also suspected in the 2004 Susianti murder, and in the 2004 
bombing of the Immanual Church with Lilik Purwanto (aka Haris) 
(arrested in 2005 and currently on trial). 
 
6. (SBU) Ardin (a.k.a. Rojak), who is still recovering from injuries 
he sustained after a shoot-out with police, is in his mid-thirties 
and linked to the Kayamanya group, according the recent ICG report. 
The INP suspects Ardin in the 2005 Tentena bombing, the 2004 
Susianti murder, and the 2004 Anugerah Church attack. 
 
7. (SBU) Yudi Parsan, whose brother Dede was killed in the January 
11 Gebang Rejo raid, is suspected in the October 2006 assassination 
 
JAKARTA 00000312  002 OF 002 
 
 
of Rev. Kongkoli in Palu, the January 2006 Maesa Pork Market 
bombing, and the 2004 Susianti murder.  More than a dozen of his 
relatives were killed by Christians during an attack in 2000, 
according to the ICG report. 
 
Poso Unfazed By Arrests 
----------------------- 
 
8. (SBU) Our contacts report that there has been no local response 
by religious leaders to the arrests and Poso is running normally. 
Several of our NGO contacts in Poso added that the Central Sualwesi 
police, and specifically the police chief Badrodin Haiti, have 
recently increased their outreach programs in Poso.  They say the 
added public outreach has calmed local residents and assured them 
that police intentions are to decrease social tensions by arresting 
the perpetrators of recent violent attacks in the Poso area.  Our 
contacts are hopeful that the capture of Basri will provide security 
that family members will not be attacked in revenge, allowing the 
remaining wanted list members to surrender to police. 
 
Police Keep Pressure on Area Militants 
-------------------------------------- 
 
9. (SBU) The INP continues to conduct cordon and search operations 
through suspected militant strongholds throughout the Poso area. 
Press reports on February 6 indicated that INP units found 39 
explosives hidden in the roof of the Ibtidayah Madrasah in Poso's 
Tanah Runtuh area.  Police also found six long-barrelled firearms, 
four magazines for SS-1 and M-16 rifles, three cylinders of teargas, 
572 rounds of ammunition and seven catapults.  The INP explosive 
ordinance disposal team reported that the homemade explosives 
consisted of black powder packed with nails and pieces of sharp 
metal into plastic pipes, and wrapped with yellow tape. 
 
PASCOE