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.