[Kabar-indonesia] JP: Police seek 29 people for Poso terrorism

[Joyo at aol.com]

The Jakarta Post
Thursday, November 2, 2006

Police seek 29 people for involvement in Poso terrorism

Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Palu

The Central Sulawesi Police are hunting at least 29 people
believed to have been involved a series of violence acts in
Poso and Palu.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Anton Bahrul Alam said
Tuesday the 29 suspects were believed to be involved in
bombings, killings and other violence. All were civilians,
Anton said.

Fifteen other people have recently been arrested for a
series of attacks since 2001, mainly for targeting
Christians in Central Sulawesi, he said.

The 15 belonged to the Karamanya and Tanah Runtuh Muslim
miltant groups that live in the town of Gebang Rejo, Anton
said.

That town was earlier the scene of a police raid last week,
when a Muslim man was shot dead after a gun battle with
officers.

Naming the men, he said seven of them belong to the Tanah
Runtuh group: Hasanuddin, Abdul Haris, Irwanto Iriano,
Ponirin alias Andi Ipong, Yusuf Asapa, Rahmat and Sudirman
alias Opo. The other eight belonged to Kayamanya: Fadli
Barsalim alias Opo, Yusman Said alias Budi, Syakur, Farid
Maruf, Yusman Sahad, Iswandi Maraf, Rusli Tawil and Ifet.

"The suspects are believed to have been involved in a series
of violent acts from 2001 to 2006. They are now being
intensively questioned at the National Police Headquarters
and the Central Sulawesi Police precinct," Bahrul Alam said.

The group were suspected of involvement in 13 attacks
including last year's beheadings of three Christian
schoolgirls in Poso and the murder of a woman minister and a
prosecutor in 2004.

Bahrul Alam said the police had also confiscated evidence
from the suspects in the forms of M-16 rifles, pistols and
homemade bombs.

The naming of the suspects did not disrupt activities in the
town, with government offices, markets and other shopping
centers remaining peaceful, despite media reports in Jakarta
that said the town was "paralyzed" after the announcement.

"Who said Poso was paralyzed? That is baseless. The (media)
should not just look for sensationalism," Poso Regent Piet
Inkiriwang said.

Patrice, 32, a Christian working alongside Muslims in one of
Poso's market areas, welcomed the arrests.
"We don't want to be involved in enmity. We're all brothers
and sisters here (apart) from the terrorists ... We want
peace," said the mother of two.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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