News Focus: POLICE ACT AGAINST TERROR SUSPECTS IN RUNUP TO OBAMA'S VISIT By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, March 9 (ANTARA) - In the runup to United States President Barack Obama's visit, the Indonesian police have since last week arrested at least 19 suspected terrorists and killed six others, one of whom is believed to be Dulmatin, a highly-wanted terror suspect.

The Densus-88 anti-terror police located and raided a number of terror hideouts in West Java and Jakarta, as well as in Aceh in the western tip of Sumatra, which according to Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf, will be used by terrorists as their base in Southeast Asia.

According to National Police Headquarters Spokesman Inspector General Edward Aritonang, anti-terror police in a number of raids have since last week arrested 14 terror suspects and shot dead three others in Aceh province. They have also arrested four in West Java and one in Jakarta.

The most recent case was on Tuesday when the Densus-88 anti-terror unit raided two places in Pamulang subdistrict, South Tangerang city in the province of Banten, near Jakarta.

On Tuesday, the Densus-88 anti-terror police located and shot dead three terror suspects in two separate places in South Tangerang. One of the dead victims was believed to be Dulmatin.

Dulmatin is suspected of involvement in terror movements in Java, Ambon and Poso. One of the men convicted in the 2002 Bali bombing had said Dulmatin made the ingition devices of bombs. He is also believed to be responsible for church bombings in Jakarta on Christmas Eve in 2000, and may have helped make the bombs used in an attack on Jakarta's JW Marriott hotel in 2004.

Head of the National Police headquarters' information division, Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang, said that in Pamulang, police raided two places. The first raid was conducted at 11.30 am on an Internet outlet at the Puri Pamulang shophouse complex on Jalan Siliwangi No.6 in Pamulang, in South Tangerang city.

"The suspect with his initial YI alias M was shot dead after he opened fire at police," Aritonang said. YI alias M was believed to be Dulmatin but police were cautious to produce his identity before a complete identification process was conducted.

At the scene, police also took into custody a woman with three children because they were at the location during the raid, Aritonang said.

Besides shooting dead one terror suspect on Jalan Siliwangi, the police at 12.20 am also shot dead two other terror suspects at Jalan Setiabudi No.15, also in Pamulang, South Tangerang city or about several kilometers from the first raid scene.

Aritonang said the two dead terror suspects, one of whom was a woman, in Jalan Setiabudi were identified as R and H, while two others known by their initials as BR alias AH and SB alias I were arrested.

On the previous day, National Police Chief General Bambang Hendarso Danuri said the police arrested two suspected terrorist fire arms suppliers from Aceh Besar district, Aceh. "The two arms dealers were caught in West Java and Jakarta," he said on Monday.

Danuri said the police already got the identities of those who got away. The police have changed their ways and methods of catching terror suspects after three police officers were killed and ten others injured during raids.

When they were raided last week, the suspected terrorists were able to shoot death three policemen.

The two suspects who had been caught, brought the number of suspects already arrested to 19, including the three who were shot dead, while the 14 suspects who were caught last week were held at the Salemba jail, and at the Kelapa Dua dtention center, Depok, West Java.

During the raid in Aceh, five people, including three policemen, were killed in a firefight with suspected terrorists in Lamkabeu, Aceh Besar district. The killed policemen were second brigadier Darmansyah and second brigadier Hendrik Kusumo from the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) of the Aceh regional police command and first brigadier Boas Waosiri, a member of the Densus 88 police anti-terror unit.

The two others are believed to be members of the armed group that had clashed with the police whose identities were still unknown.
Upon arrival at Bhayangkara Hospital in Banda Aceh all the bodies were taken to the morgue. Newsmen were not allowed to enter the hospital.

Eleven Brimob members from the Aceh regional police command were taken to the Zainoel Abidin hospital after being wounded in the fight lasting from 2pm to around 6pm local time.

The fight flared up after Brimob and Densus 88 members besieged a residential area in Lamkabeu since Tuesday (2/3) believed to have been used as a hiding place by an armed group suspected to be part of the Jalin group network in Jantho, capital of Aceh Besar district.

According to General Bambang Hendarso Danuri, police are still pursuing at least 30 people suspected of involvement in a terrorist network in Aceh. "More or less 30. Yes, 30 others are still being pursued," he said.

In the meantime, Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf said on Tuesday that terrorists were planning to use Aceh as their base in Southeast Asia. "We have detected that they were building strength to use Aceh as their movement base but only now could we act to arrest them," he said.

The police success in uncovering and arresting or killing suspected terrorists was made in the runup to US President Barack Obama's visit to Indonesia in mid-March 2010. However, it was believed that terrorist activities in Aceh Province did not affect the US President's planned visit.

"The international world, including the USA has admitted that Indonesia is consistently fighting terrorism with qualified personnel," said Anti Terror desk chief of the office of the coordinating minister for political and security affairs, Ansyaad Mbai.