Another terrorist training camp uncovered on Maluku Islands
Jakarta (AsiaNews) High alert in Haya, a village located in the mountains of central Maluku near Tehoru, where residents torched the Mujahidin pesatren hostel, which hosted Muslim students. People burnt the structure after police announced that the hostel's leader, Ustad Batar, was a suspected terrorist.
In their statement the police revealed that in the study centre people went beyond pengajian (studying and praying) but received military training for jihad as well. Students were largely outsiders, not from Haya itself.
"The fire and destruction of the pesatren was carried out by almost everyone in the village. No one could have stopped us," said Abidin Manakule, a local resident. "People were united, fed up with these people and their shady activities". Villagers also told the pesatren students to leave.
Maluku Police Chief General Adityawarman confirmed tensions between Haya residents and Mujahidin pesatren members.
"It was clear that the pesatren students were involved in more than pengajian but were also training for jihad," he said.
Police detained Ustad Ahzam, right-hand man to the centre's leader, Ustad Batar, who is still at large.
"We don't have enough evidence to arrest him but enough to detain him for interrogation," the general said.
Ahzam was in possession of false ID papers.
Police also arrested another man, Mambang Wiyono, for "possible involvement in terrorist activities".
In recent days, the police carried out a series of inquiries. It seems that Haya had become a terrorist base and given refuge to Malaysian terrorist Azahari bin Husin and to Imam Samudra and Amrozi, two of the terrorists behind the 2002 Bali bombings, who were sentenced to death by an Indonesian court.
"We have evidence that Imam Samudra was in Haya in 2001," Adityawarman said.
A local resident, who asked to remain anonymous, confirmed that Azahari spent some time in Haya as well.
He also spoke about how he, too, spent some time in a training camp.
"When I was in high school, my fellow students and I got military training. Every morning we went through exercises on the beach or on the mountain. Our education consisted of ngaji (praying) and military training".
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12/10/2007
