Bali bomber taught Poso militants from jail-police
Source: Reuters
JAKARTA, Feb 5 (Reuters) - An Indonesian convicted of plotting the 2002 Bali bombings was able to give guidance from jail to Muslim militants in the troubled Poso region, a police statement submitted to parliament showed on Monday. The statement said that Mukhlas, who is on death row for his role in the bombings that killed more than 200 people in Bali nightclubs, communicated via mobile phone with other militants. "Mukhlas, who is sentenced to death for the Bali bombings, often gave teachings from the Kerobokan prison in Bali through his handphone to the congregation in Poso," the statement said. It wasn't clear what kind of guidance the convicted bomber offered to the congregation. Observers say it is often easy to bribe corrupt prison guards in Indonesian jails to turn a blind eye. The statement was submitted to parliament during a meeting between police chief General Sutanto and legislators on the recent situation in volatile Poso on Sulawesi Island. Last month, 14 people, one of them a policeman, were killed during raids that involved gunfire between security forces and suspected Islamic militants in the Tanah Runtuh neighbourhood. More than 2,000 people were killed in three years of sectarian violence between Muslim and Christian communities in the Poso region before a peace accord took effect in late 2001. There has been sporadic violence since, and authorities have recently stepped up attempts to bring alleged militants to justice for previous attacks. The police statement also said "in 2000-2002, JI military trainings were conducted in Tanah Runtuh". JI stands for Jemaah Islamiah, a Southeast Asian militant network authorities believed to be responsible for a series of bombings in Indonesia in recent years, including the 2002 Bali blasts. Around 85 percent of Indonesia's 220 million people follow Islam, giving the country the world's largest Muslim population. Most Indonesian Muslims are moderates but there is a radical fringe that has been increasingly vocal and media-savvy. Police revealed last year that Imam Samudra, also on death row for the 2002 Bali bombings, had used a laptop in his prison cell to chat via the Internet with co-conspirators about fund-raising for attacks.
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