Indonesian police arrest leader of network with al-Qaeda ties
Indonesian police have arrested the leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah militant network linked to al-Qaeda, authorities said yesterday, on suspicion of recruiting members and sending them to Syria to train with extremist groups.
Counter-terrorism police also arrested at least four other suspects linked to Para Wijayanto, who experts say was a student of Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people.
Wijayanto, who had been on the run since 2003 and had trained with militants in the southern Philippines, was arrested with his wife on Saturday on the outskirts of Jakarta, the capital.
Police said Wijayanto owned palm oil plantations on Sumatra and Borneo islands, which he used to pay some JI members up to 15 million rupiah ($1,061) a month.
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