by Mathias Hariyadi

Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who was sent to prison for his role in the Bali bombing, belongs to the same extremist group. Evidence points to a terrorist plan that involves violence in Maluku and Sulawesi Islands and might strike Jakarta.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Indonesian police suspects that the terrorists responsible for the May 28 attack in Tentena (Central Sulawesi) might be tied to the Solo terrorist group that was involved in the 2002 Bali bombing, this according to National Police spokesperson Zainuri Lubis.

The latter group takes its name from the city of Surakarta, better known as Solo, in Central Java.

Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who was recently sent to prison for his involvement in 2002 Bali bombing in which 202 died and who is accused of being the spiritual guide of the Jemaah Islamiah, belongs to the same group.

The suspicions by Indonesian police give greater credibility to an alert launched some weeks ago about a large-scale terrorist plan covering the whole of the country—recent attacks in the provinces of Sulawesi and Maluku would be part of it.

Maluku Police Chief Brigadier General Adityawarman yesterday said that the Tentena bombers have strong ties to those who carried out the bloody May 16 ambush in Loki on Seram Island (Central Maluku) that claimed the lives of five mobile brigade police officers and two civilians—including one attacker.

"Three of the Loki attackers are from Poso and two other were involved in attacks in Sulawesi and Ambon," Adityawarman said.

According to the police, these terrorists are always on the move on the Banggai Islands-Taliabu-Mangole-Sanana-Buru Island sailing route.

Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf  Kalla and  South Sulawesi Police Chief Saleh Saaf agree. Both believe that the Tentena attack is linked to the violence that broke out in the district of Mamasa (West Sulawesi) in April. But, no clear evidence has been presented that would confirm alleged links between Jemaah Islamiah and al-Qaeda.

Kalla did however reject a claim made by local NGOs that the bombs thrown at the Tentena market killing 20 people were part of a plot to distract public opinion away from embezzlement allegations involving corrupt public officials in Poso.

In the meantime, the country-wide state of alert remains high. In the capital, Jakarta Police Chief Inspector General Firman Gani issued a red alert to counter possible attacks in the city.

Still, the US Embassy in Jakarta was reopened after closing for security reasons on May 26.

• indonesia
• tentena
• islam
• terrorism
• attacks
• bombs
• security