Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Suspected terrorist Muhammad Jibril told judges that he personally knew Malaysian extremist Noordin Moh Top, but denied that he was involved in the Jakarta attacks on 17 July of last year. In Aceh Besar, security forces arrested three people last night. The authorities believe the forested area is used to train militants.
Muhammad Jibril (pictured) was present at a hearing of the South Jakarta District Court. He is thought to have played a key role in raising funds for the Marriot and Ritz-Carlton attacks that left 12 people dead and dozens wounded.
He told judges that he knew Malaysian terrorist Noordin Moh Top “since 1998” and that the latter was his mentor when he lived in Malaysia. Top was killed in a police raid last September.
Jibril denied however having met him in recent years when Top lived in Indonesia. He also denied charges presented by the prosecutor that he was involved in fund raising activities in order to finance the two attacks that occurred 17 July.
Muhammad Jibril’s father, Abu Jibril, was present at the hearing. For the US Treasury Department, the elder Jibril is a leader of the Jeemah Islamiah, a terrorist organisation operating in South-East Asia, and a close associate of Abu Bakar Bashir.
In the meantime, hundreds of agents from Indonesia’s anti-terrorist unit swept through a remote area of Aceh Bear district, some 70 kilometres from the provincial capital of Banda Aceh. Some 50 militants were apparently present at the location for training. Three of them were arrested whilst the rest fled.
According to police sources, those arrested were undergoing military training and could be tied to Jeemah Islamiah. Police also seized Malaysian military uniforms and terrorist propaganda material, including video footage of the 2002 deadly bomb attack in Bali that claimed more than 220 lives.
The Indonesian Mujahedeen Council (Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia or MMI) picked a new leader, Syawal Yasin who is Abdullah Sungkar’s son-in-law. The latter is believed to be the cofounder with Abu Bakar Bashir of Jeemah Islamiah.
He rose in the shadow of his father-in-law, but became a household name as one of the first Indonesians to train in 1986 at al-Qaeda camps on the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
On taking on the mantle of mujahedeen leader, Syawal Yasin said, “Insya Allah (God willing), I am ready to accept the offer.”
