Jakarta (AsiaNews) – After a week of uncertainties Indonesian police confirmed last night the capture of a high level terrorist, implicated in Poso’s inter-religious violence. Agus Idrus, leader of the local cell of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), was stopped by immigration authorities in Malaysia.
The man – the chief of investigations gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri – was among the top most wanted on the Indonesian police’s list since the sectarian clashes which struck Poso and central Sulawesi between 1999 and 2001. Since 2006 Agus Idrus had substituted Azahari bin Husin as leader of the JI terrorist network, after the latter was killed in a shoot out, in Batu east Java province.
The Malaysian police captured the terrorist in late March, together with Abdurrahmin, who was also implicated in Poso violence. Now the two are being held in maximum security prison in Kelapa Dua, West Java, circa 25 Km south of Jakarta. 39 year old Agus Idrus is married with six children. He is also known as Agus Purwantoro. He studied medicine at Airlangga University in Surabaya.
JI is a terrorist network operative in South East Asia and linked to al Qaeda. It is believed to be behind numerous attacks, among them the 2002 Bali bombings 2002 and 2005.