Indonesia clarifies news on Umar Patek`s arrest

The truths behind the news about the arrest by Pakistani authorities of one of Indonesia`s most-wanted terrorist fugitives, Umar Patek, remain unclear for Indonesian officials on Thursday.

Therefore, various efforts have been made to confirm the fact that the man arrested in Pakisan was really Umar Patek, suspect of the 2002 Bali bombing. 

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto said at Merdeka Palace here on Thursday that members of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) were assisting the National Police (Polri) to trace the truth of the information.

"I confirm that the members of BIN and the police are working together to check the truth of the information about Patek`s arrest in Pakistan," Djoko said.

The security minister asserted that the State Intelligence Agency would assist the Police in every way, especially to make sure if the arrested man was Umar Patek.

Djoko added that in spite of detailed information from Pakistan about the arrest of Patek, the Indonesian government still needed to confirm if the information was correct.

"It is said that Umar Patek has been arrested, but we need to go there to make sure if it is really the wanted terrorist fugitive because there is a process in seeking the truth," Djoko said.

Asked if one of the mechanisms was to check the physical characteristics of the arrested man, Djoko said, "Yes, all of them."

So far there was no confirmation if Umar Patek has really been arrested, but Djoko asserted that the members of BIN would cooperate with various other parties to collect accurate information about it.

Djoko admitted that the BIN cooperated with other countries including the United States which was also hunting Umar Patek.

According to the chief of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), Sutanto, the picture sent by the Pakistani authorities was identical with that of most wanted terrorist Umar Patek.

He said before attending a plenary cabinet meeting here that a team of police and BIN officials sent to Pakistan was still working to investigate and confirm the truth of the report.

"We are still confirming it. That is what the Pakistani authorities have said. We still have yet to check its truth. Indeed the photograph that has been sent to us is identical with that of Umar Patek but we still have to check other factors," he said.

Meanwhile, National Police Chief Gen Timur Pradopo said he had yet to receive any confirmation about Umar Patek`s arrest in Pakistan.

"We have not yet received definite information, confirming that the arrested man is Umar Patek," Timur Pradopo said.

But he refused to explain in detail the result and working mechanism of an integrated team, consisting of police and members of the State Intelligence Agency who were sent to Pakistan to confirm the identity of the person arrested.

Foreign intelligence sources said on Tuesday that Patek, a suspected member of the Al Qaeda-linked militant group Jemaah Islamiyah and a main suspect in the 2002 Bali bombing, was arrested in Pakistan earlier this year. 

The Indonesian Police has sent an integrated team to Pakistan to trace the information concerning the arrest of Patek, who was also responsible for the first Bali bombings in 2002.

"We have sent our Interpol to Pakistan to cooperate with their police," National Police (Polri) Public Relations officer Insp Gen Anton Bachrul Alam said here on Wednesday.

He said the team from the International Relations Division has been sent to Pakistan to check the truth of information about the arrest by Pakistani authorities of Umar Patek.

"We have to check the truth of the information," Anton said, adding that Polri also coordinated with the National Counter-terrorism Agency (BNPT) and the Foreign Affairs Ministry to ask for a confirmation from the Pakistani government.

But the Foreign Affairs Ministry still has yet to receive a confirmation about Umar Patek`s arrest in Pakistan.

"We have not yet received an information about the arrest of Patek," Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Michael Tene said on Wednesday.

Patek was believed to be part of a group of people who held military and fighting exercises in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the 1980s and 1990s.

After returning to Southeast Asia, Patek and his friends formed the Jemaah Islamiyah, and then organized a series of suicide bombings targeting nightclubs, restaurants, hotels, offices and embassies of Western countries in Indonesia.

Patek was suspected to have fled to the southern Philippines after the Bali bombings in 2002 to join the Abu Sayyaf rebels. However, he was also believed to still remotely control the operations of Jemaah Islamiyah.

His arrest in Pakistan raises questions about how the top terrorist fugitive could leave the country.

But Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said on Wednesday in Nusa Dua, Bali, that if the arrested man was Umar Patek, he could be extradited to Indonesia. 

Marty said Indonesia`s international cooperation may enable the extradition to Indonesia of terrorist fugitive Umar Patek, reported to have been arrested in Pakistan.

"If I am asked to confirm the information, I cannot do so because the most important thing for us is not merely about Umar Patek`s arrest but our effort to uncover the terrorist ring behind him," Marty said.

Marty and his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd were in Bali to co-chair the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime.

According to Marty, the news about the arrest of Umar Patek (40) in Pakistan was certainly an important subject in eradicating terrorists and their networks.

"Please keep in mind that up to this stage we should not ignore operational matters. We have international cooperation with Pakistan and thus it can allow Umar Patek to be extradited," Marty said.

Meanwhile, responding to the news of Patek`s arrest, Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd even confirmed that it was true.

Australia felt the bitterness of the Bali Bombings by

Amrozi-Imam Samudra, Noordin M Top-Azahari pair from Malaysia, and Dulmatin-Patek.

Umar Patek was involved in the October 12, 2002 bombings at Paddy`s Cafe and Sari Club in the island resort of Bali that killed at least 202 people, mostly Australian tourists.

Ever since, Australian involvement in the response to terrorist networks in Indonesia got even stronger.

"We are still an important friend of Indonesia in the eradication of terrorists," Rudd said, adding that the arrest of Patek in Pakistan proved that terrorist networks could be eradicated

Source: ANTARA