Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Palu/Jakarta
Police announced Saturday they had arrested a teacher -- believed to have close ties to fugitive terror suspect Noordin M. Top -- from Al-Amanah Islamic boarding school in Poso, Central Sulawesi.
Sahl Alamri, 35, who is also a kerosene distributor, was arrested Thursday by Detachment 88, a police antiterror squad, on his way to Poso to deliver kerosene to a customer.
"The teacher from Al-Amanah pesantren was nabbed for his alleged connection with Noordin," Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Oegroseno said.
The school, established on May 4, 2001, is known among local people for its exclusiveness. It is also believed to have hired alumni from Al-Mukmin pesantren in Ngruki, Central Java, which was co-founded by convicted terrorist Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.
Sahl was transferred Friday to the National Police headquarters in Jakarta for further questioning.
However, National Police spokesmen Brig. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam declined to give any more details about what links existed between Sahl and Noordin.
"We cannot expose this now because it would ruin the police investigation. After all, we have to wait for seven days to prove the accusations against the man," Anton told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
By law, the antiterror procedures require seven days of investigation before someone can be declared a suspect.
However, Anton claimed that the police were closing in on Noordin.
Recently, Central Java Police officers arrested eight men with alleged connections to Noordin. They were accused of assisting the country's most wanted terror suspect in planning and carrying out the Oct. 1, 2005 attacks on Bali, which killed 23 people including three suicide bombers.
Police have collected evidence and testimony from them in relation to Noordin's whereabouts.
According to documents obtained by police, Noordin has positioned himself as the new terror group's leader for the Malay region, covering Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines and parts of other Asian countries. The group is believed to be targeting Java for its next bomb attack.
Noordin is thought to have recruited new followers to his group.***
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