Police hunt five key Poso terror suspects
Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Palu, 22 Nov 2006

The Central Sulawesi Police are now concentrating on apprehending five key suspects from 28 fugitives wanted for their role in anti-Christian attacks in the towns of Poso and Palu.
The announcement Tuesday was coldly received by Muslim activists, who accused the police of manufacturing the list to shift attention from their recent raid on a village in which one person was shot dead.
Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Muhammad Kilat told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday the police were now prioritizing finding the five men.
However, he would only name two of them: Basri and Bojel. All were residents of the Gebang Rejo subdistrict in Poso, he said.
"The five come from the same group as Hasanuddin, Irwanto Irano and Haris," Kilat said, referring to three suspects currently on trial for their alleged roles in last year's beheading of three Christian schoolgirls in Poso.
Fifteen other Muslim militants, belonging to the Muslim Tanah Runtuh and Kayamanya groups from Gebang Rejo, were recently arrested. They are considered suspects in a series of attacks, beginning in 2001, that targeted Christians in Central Sulawesi.
The Tanah Runtuh group has been accused of involvement in several murders in Poso since 2001, including the 2005 beheadings and the shooting of a Christian minister in Palu last month. The second group has been accused of robbery and inciting anti-Christian and anti-police mob violence.
The police have already set two deadlines for the suspects on the wanted list to voluntarily surrender but 28 people remain at large. Another, Andi Ilau alias Andi Bocor, surrendered last week but was released after three days of questioning.
Kilat said the five were believed responsible for several violent acts in Poso, including shootings and a robbery of the Poso regency government.
The other people on the list, he said, were not directly involved in the attacks but were supporters like Andi Bocor.
Separately, Harun Nyak Itam Abu from Poso Muslim Lawyers team said Tuesday the police's move to name wanted people on the list was simply a way to divert attention from a botched police raid on a premises in the Tanah Runtuh area on Oct. 22. During the raid, the police claimed residents attacked them first before a man was shot.
"But the truth can't be covered up. All residents have testified the police attacked them. As a diversion, the police then covered up the case by announcing the wanted list of 29 people," Harun said.
One of the initial 29, Andi, surrendered to police but was later released, Harun said. And now the police have narrowed their focus to only five people.
"The police's move makes us wonder whether Andi is being used as a messenger boy," he said.
Responding to the allegations, Kilat said the police had no intention of covering up anything by releasing the list. The names were based on witness testimony and other information gathered in police investigations, he said.