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Indonesia Terrorists Get Free Kids' Schooling to Track Comrades
By Arijit Ghosh and Gemma Daley
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Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) -- In 1987, Nasir Abas helped train terrorists who, 15
years later, bombed a crowded Bali nightclub. These days, he lives freely in
Jakarta, where the Indonesian government paid for his wife and four
daughters to relocate from Malaysia.
In return, he tries to help keep Indonesia safe from his former
comrades-in-arms.
Released from prison in 2004 after a 10-month sentence for immigration
violations, Nasir is taking part in an Indonesian program that seeks to win
cooperation from captured terrorists and reduce public support for their
violence.
The initiative works to convince Islamic extremists that the government
doesn't oppose their religion <http://www.qibla.org/> and rewards them for
information about other terrorists. Benefits include tuition aid for their
children, relocation expenses and the privilege of forgoing uniforms in
prison.
``The police are trying to communicate with them, understand their culture,
to make them understand Indonesia's pluralism,'' said Nasir, 39, eating
butter chicken curry at an Indian restaurant in Jakarta. ``The police were
showing a human response, so you should, as a normal man, give a good
response.''
Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population, has been free of
terrorism for three years, following attacks in the previous five years that
killed 280 people. The government credits the five-year-old program that
enlisted Nasir's cooperation.
Understanding Mindsets
The initiative is the brainchild of Ansyaad
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Ansyaad+Mbai&site=wnews&client=wnews&p
roxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=
wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Mbai, who coordinates counter-terrorism efforts by
various Indonesian agencies, and Surya Dharma, chief of Detachment 88, the
nation's main anti-terrorism force.
``It's a golden opportunity to communicate with them and make them
understand that their thinking is wrong,'' Mbai said of the extremists.
``The key is to understand their mindset.''
To spread its message of religious tolerance, the program uses puppet shows
<http://www.wayang-indonesia.com/> , known as Wayang. About 200 people
watched one on a humid August day in the village of Cianjur, 120 kilometers
(75 miles) southeast of Jakarta. In it, a puppet advocated bombing
disbelievers.
``How come there are people who want to do bombings? Bombing is sinful,''
responded another puppet. ``You should create a harmonious inter-religion
living society.''
Against Terrorism
Advocates say the program has helped drive down support for terrorist acts.
Public disapproval of terrorism rose in Indonesia to 44 percent this year,
from 36 percent in 2006, according to a survey of 1,248 people by the Center
for the Studies of Islam and Society in Jakarta.
Nasir, who is Malaysian, may have been an easy subject for the program: He
doesn't condone bombing, he said, adding that the government will find some
terrorists harder to crack. Nasir's brother-in-law, Ali
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Ali+Gufron&site=wnews&client=wnews&pro
xystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wn
nis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Gufron, was convicted of helping plan the 2002 Bali
nightclub attack, which claimed 202 lives, and sentenced to death. Nasir
said he tried and failed to persuade Gufron to cooperate with authorities.
``To convert them will take time because they have been indoctrinated'' to
fight secular states, Nasir said.
The program has persuaded some terrorists to help investigators capture
other terrorists, who in turn helped find still more terrorists.
Chain of Information
In January 2006, authorities arrested terrorists in Poso in Central Sulawesi
<http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/idlarge.htm> province who
then provided information that led to the capture a year later of Abu
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Abu+Dujana&site=wnews&client=wnews&pro
xystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wn
nis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Dujana, a suspect in bombings in Bali and Jakarta,
and some underlings, Mbai said.
Now Dujana himself is cooperating with authorities -- and Indonesia lets him
wear street clothes in prison and pays his children's school fees, Mbai
said.
The approach in this 86 percent-Muslim nation of 238 million people
contrasts with that of Pakistan, the world's second-most-populous Muslim
nation.
The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
<http://www.hrcp-web.org/contact.cfm> says more than 4,000 suspected
religious or ethnic militants have disappeared into secret military custody
since 2002. As president last year, Pervez
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Pervez+Musharraf&site=wnews&client=wne
ws&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfie
lds=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Musharraf ousted the country's chief justice
after he began forcing the military to produce the prisoners in court.
More than 2,000 people died in terrorist attacks in Pakistan in 2007,
according to its Interior Ministry. There have been at least 70 attacks this
year, including the Sept. 20 Marriott hotel bombing in Islamabad that killed
53 people.
`Showing the Way'
``Indonesia is showing the way on fighting terrorism, which we would never
have thought possible five years ago,'' said Greg
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Greg%0AFealy&site=wnews&client=wnews&p
roxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=
wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Fealy, an Australian
<http://www.anu.edu.au/index.php> National University professor who teaches
classes on terrorism. ``Other Asian nations are taking note.''
The program began by targeting Jemaah Islamiyah, an extremist group that
helped terrorist Osama
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Osama+bin+Laden&site=wnews&client=wnew
s&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfiel
ds=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> bin Laden develop a network in Southeast Asia.
Established in Indonesia, it has spread to Malaysia, the Philippines,
Thailand and Australia.
Many Jemaah Islamiyah commanders trained in Afghanistan, where Nasir taught
extremists artillery methods. Dujana, arrested with the help of information
from former members of the group, was one of its leaders. It has been linked
to three attacks in Indonesia that together killed 232 people: the 2002
nightclub bombing, a 2004 Jakarta explosion near the Australian embassy and
a 2005 attack on a Bali beach.
Trying to identify suspects in the latter two bombings, police asked Farihin
Ibnu Ahmad -- who served a year in jail for leading a raid on a Christian
village that killed two people -- for help. He cooperated and now feels free
to advocate the creation of an Islamic state without fear of prosecution, as
long as he doesn't condone violence.
Nothing Radical
``The police's program got me thinking differently,'' Ibnu said. ``The
police don't want us to do anything radical if we want to be
rehabilitated.''
Australia, which lost 88 citizens in the 2002 bombings, praises Indonesia's
program but still warns
<http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/advice/Indonesia> travelers of
a ``very high threat of terrorist attack'' there.
``It's no reason to wind down vigilance,'' said Bill
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Bill%0APaterson&site=wnews&client=wnew
s&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfiel
ds=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Paterson, Australia's counter-terrorism
ambassador, in an interview in Canberra. ``Some of the key JI operatives are
still at large, and the organization has mutated and split. There are still
dangerous people around.''
Among them: Noordin
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Noordin+Muhammad+Top&site=wnews&client
=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&ge
tfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Muhammad Top, who allegedly helped plan the
2002 Bali bombings and eluded capture when police killed a suspected
accomplice, Azhari
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Azhari+Husin&site=wnews&client=wnews&p
roxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=
wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Husin, in 2005.
The U.S. has shown its approval of Indonesia's efforts, lifting its
eight-year travel warning in May of this year and saying arrests since 2005
have reduced the risk of violence.
Arrests, Conviction, Sentence
Indonesia this year arrested Faiz Fauzi for alleged involvement in the 2002
and 2005 attacks. Earlier, it tried, convicted and sentenced to death three
men for allegedly planning the 2002 bombings -- Gufron, Imam Samudra and
Amrozi, who uses one name.
Tony Purkiss, an Australian injured in the 2005 bombings, also praises
Indonesia's efforts. He was sitting at a table on Bali's Jimbaran beach with
friends from Newcastle when three suicide bombers killed themselves and 20
other people. Among the dead were Purkiss's friends Jennifer Williams and
Colin and Fiona Zwolinski, a married couple. Purkiss's wife, Mary-Anne, lost
her right eye. Tony was blinded by the attack, despite five operations to
restore his vision.
``Indonesia needs to be applauded for what it's done; they have proved an
unlikely example,'' said Purkiss, 47, barefoot on his yacht, Balance, moored
in Newcastle
<http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/oceania/aussnew.htm> . But ``I
won't go back because it will never be safe.''
To contact the reporters on this story: Gemma
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Gemma+Daley&site=wnews&client=wnews&pr
oxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=w
nnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Daley in Canberra at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Arijit
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Arijit+Ghosh&site=wnews&client=wnews&p
roxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=
wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Ghosh in Jakarta at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Last Updated: October 8, 2008 13:01 EDT
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