JAKARTA (JP): In a move to restore order and put an end to the
Maluku conflict Indonesian Police arrested commander of Muslim
paramilitary group Laskar Jihad Jafar Umar Thalib on Saturday over
alleged provocation in last week's Soya incident inthe Maluku
capital of Ambon, officials said.
Jafar was arrested during transit at Juanda Airport in
Surabaya, the capital of East Java on his way to Jakarta, National
Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf said.
Saleh declined to mention further details, but said a media
briefing will be held later on Saturday.
Originally Jafar was to be arrested earlier in the day during a
30-minute transit at the airport of the South Sulawesi capital of
Makassar on 12 p.m. local time as he had just left Ambon, the
capital of Maluku, but due to technical considerations he
wasarrested in Surabaya, South Sulawesi Police chief Insp. Gen.
Firman Gani told The Jakarta Post by phone.
"It is easier to bring him (Jafar) from Surabaya directly
to Jakarta rather than if we arrested him in Makassar,"
Firman Gani, who is also a former Maluku Police chief, said.
Firman further said that police investigators in Ambon and
Jakarta had enough preliminary evidence to arrest Jafar.
"Jafar's arrest is based on the letter of the law, in
which there is evidence that he has been provoking conflicts in
Maluku for quite some time. Police do not have to wait for an
order from the President on this matter, because we run the system
on legalgrounds," Firman said.
Laskar Jihad has been blamed for inciting riots in Maluku. As
earlier as 2000 the group deployed thousands of Muslim Jihad
warriors to wage a holy war in Maluku. (ylt/edt)
