Indonesia Highlights: Jakarta Metropolitan Police Formally Arrest FPI Chief Rizieq Shihab | Indonesian Government Scrapped Plans to Reconcile with FPI | Indonesia’s Densus 88 Counterterrorist Police Capture 2002 Bali Bombing Fugitive

2. Indonesian Government Scrapped Plans to Reconcile with FPI

Indonesia’s security czar has denied allegations that the government plans to mend fences with the Islamic Defenders Front and its chief Rizieq Shihab before the latter’s return from exile in Saudi Arabia last November.

“I would like to emphasize that the government has no plans to reconcile with Rizieq and the FPI," said Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD on Saturday, December 12. "But we did plan to start talks in a neutral country before he returned to Indonesia.”

However, the talks broke down because the terms that Rizieq and the FPI set for reconciliation with the government were too steep.

“We were surprised by [Rizieq’s] speech [on arriving in Indonesia] calling for the government to release a number of men convicted of terrorism and other crimes,” Mahfud said. Rizieq fled to Saudi Arabia in 2017 to evade pornography charges laid against him by the police.

Investigators laid the case against Rizieq after he played a major role in the 212 Alumni, a collection of conservative Islamic groups that helped incumbent Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan beat his Chinese Christian predecessor Basuki ‘Ahok’ Tjahaja Purnama.

Source:

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/12/12/17100721/mahfud-md-pemerintah-tak-berencana-rekonsiliasi-dengan-rizieq-shihab. 

3. Indonesia’s Densus 88 Counterterrorist Police Capture 2002 Bali Bombing Fugitive

The Indonesian National Police’s Detachment 88 counterterrorist police have nabbed a fugitive from the first Bali Bombing in Lampung Province on the evening of Saturday, December 12.

“[Detachment 88] captured Zukarnain, who was also known as Aris Sumarsono, Daud, Zaenal Arifin as well as Abdulrahman, in the regency of East Lampung,” state news Antara quoted Indonesian National Police spokesman Inspector General Argo Yuwono as saying.

“We also suspected him of coddling his fellow militant Upik Lawangan, whom we captured at the end of November.”

Argo noted that the 57-year-old, who hails from Sragen, Central Java, did not resist arrest. However, this belied his notoriety and influence within Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the terrorist organization blamed for the attack.

“Zulkarnain was an important JI field commander during the time of the bombing, as he formed the organization’s Khos Unit or special task force,” he said. “Aside from the Bali attack, the Khos Units also fought in the Poso and Ambon conflicts.”

The first Bali Bombing, which occurred in 2002, killed 202 people from Indonesia and other countries. Most or 88 of the foreigners who perished in the attack came from Australia. Indonesian authorities executed JI militants Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron for carrying out the attack.

The authorities also sentenced the bombers’ accomplices to lengthy jail terms, including Ali Ghufron’s brother Ali Imron.

Source:

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/12/12/20233791/densus-tangkap-buronan-bom-bali-i.