Tuesday, December 2, 2003
Pakistan to deport alleged Indonesian terrorists: Jakarta
Agence France-Presse Jakarta, December 2
Pakistan is to deport six Indonesian students who are suspected to have links to terrorism and Jakarta is considering whether to detain them on their return home, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
The six include Rusman Gunawan, the brother of alleged top terrorist Hambali.
"We have been officially notified by the Pakistani government of the plan to deport the six students," said ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa.
He said Pakistani authorities have finished questioning the six, all students of the Abubakar Islamic University who were arrested in September on suspicion of terrorism.
Thirteen other students, from Malaysia, were also arrested.
"We are now coordinating with the national police as we want to know whether they are interested in questioning the six when they are actually deported," Natalegawa said, adding that the six have no criminal record in Indonesia.
"Based on information obtained by the Pakistani side, they have come to the conclusion that three of the six are involved in terrorism activities while the three others are sleeping (terrorist) cells," Natalegawa said.
He did not elaborate on the Pakistani conclusions but said Indonesian police might want to check on the allegations once the students are sent home.
No date has been set for the deportation.
Natalegawa declined to speculate on whether the deportation would take place before President Megawati Sukarnoputri visits Pakistan later this month.
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2003.