| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| Police detain wives of Laskar Jundullah activist over Makassar bombings |
| 2002-12-08 |
| Police picked up the wives of a leading member of the Laskar Jundullah, a radical Islamic group, on Saturday night as part of their investigation into Thursdayâs deadly bombings in Makassar, including the one at a McDonaldâs outlet. South Sulawesi Police Chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said on Sunday the two women, Panca Budi and Ety Suharti, were picked up at their residence, in Makassar and in nearby Barru respectively. âWe brought them in for questioning about Agung Hamid, who is wanted for questioning in connection with Thursdayâs bomb attacks,â Firman said. The two women were being questioned in separate locations: Panca at the Makassar Police Headquarters and Ety at the South Sulawesi Police Headquarters. The organization's a new one on me, but it seems like every time three turbans get together in Indonesia they form a laskar of some sort... Laskar Jundullah is the task force of the Committee for the Establishment of the Syariat in Indonesia (KPSI), a Makassar-based organization with ambitions to establish the Islamic laws. Firman had insisted that the police were not targeting at the Laskar Jundullah or its parent organization KPSI. The investigation are targeted at individuals who may have been involved in the bomb attacks, he said. âAll the arrests will be done according the the Criminal Code Procedures,â he said. No, no! Wouldn't want to offend the religious fanatix among us! Besides Agung Hamid, police are also looking for Abdul Haris of the Islamic Youth Front (FPI) for questioning about the bomb attacks. On Friday night and Saturday morning, police raided the homes of at least eight activists of Laskar Jundullah. Firman said that as far as the police were concerned KPSI was not involved in the bomb attacks. But some individuals connected to the group might be. "We hope KPSI would cooperate in giving assistance to our investigation,â he said. Blowing up people while they're having lunch certainly sounds like something an Islamic Youth Front might do... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 That's the corollary to the rule: three turbans get together, they form a laskar, and some Arab buys the guns for them. |
| Posted by: Fred 2002-12-08 19:33:34 |
| #1 Laskar Jundullah was active in the fighting in Muluku province, but it was a lot smaller than Laskar Jihad. Omar al-Farouq helped set it up, and I believe it's Indonesian leader was arrested a while ago after being caught with explosives. |
| Posted by: Paul 2002-12-08 19:28:20 |