Aris Sumarsono, aka Zulkarnaen, is a senior member of the al-Qaeda group Jemaah Islamiah. Possible fallouts from his arrest could be a weakening of Jemaah Islamiah and/or an impetus for revenge, according to security analyst Stanislaus Riyanta.
It is not known why this arrest was made now, considering that Zulkarnaen has long been known to the UN Security Council, including his involvement with the Bali bombing. A UNSC report from 2008 and updated in April 2019 states:
Zulkarnaen headed the operations section of JI, which helped carry out the suicide bombing at Jakarta’s Marriott Hotel that killed 12 people in 2003 and helped to prepare the bombs that killed 202 people in Bali in 2002.
There is no match between the zealotry of jihadists and the laxity of those who supposedly oppose jihad terror.
“Indonesian police arrest top Islamist militant linked to Bali bombings,” Reuters, December 14, 2020:
Indonesian police said they have arrested one of the most senior members of the al Qaeda-linked militant group Jemaah Islamiah suspected to be behind the 2002 bombings on the resort island of Bali that killed more than 200 people.
Jemaah Islamiah’s stated aim is to build an Islamic caliphate in Southeast Asia.
Zulkarnaen, one of the commanders of the Bali attack, was arrested on Thursday by anti-terrorism police, spokesman Ahmad Ramadhan said in a statement on Saturday.
He said the officers met no resistance.
Reuters was unable to reach Zulkarnaen or find out whether he had any legal representation. According to a UN Security Council report, he also goes by the name Aris Sumarsono.
Zulkarnaen is believed to have been involved in making the bombs that were used in the Bali attacks and in the 2003 bombing of the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta that killed 12 people….
Keith O says
Some good news at last.
The Indon’s have an efficient way of dealing with grubs like this, I only hope that they stuff up the firing squad.
Given the pain, suffering and grief this individual has caused to so many people, then I hope that he burns in hell.
sidney penny says
“helped to prepare the bombs that killed 202 people in Bali in 2002.”
including 88 Australians
gravenimage says
Indonesia: Muslim leader arrested, suspected of masterminding 2002 Bali jihad bombings that killed over 200 people
………………
Glad they finally caught up with him.
But given how ambivalent Indonesia is, as a Muslim country, at opposing Jihad terror, I will not be expecting much of a sentence.
Phil Copson says
“…Glad they finally caught up with him….”
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How hard were they trying ? His involvement with the bombings was long-known, so it could be that – as with bin Laden in Pakistan – he wasn’t so much hiding from the authorities, as being sheltered by them, until he could be useful once more, even if only as a bargaining chip.
Once their presence becomes inconvenient – it might be holding-up a trade deal with a country the terrorist previously attacked, or the ruling faction may now be in bed with a different brand of terrorism, for instance – then the terrorist-cum-political-hostage can magically be produced like a rabbit out of a hat, and held up to show the world that the govt is on the side of the good guys.
Mohan says
Oh please, don’t compare Indonesia with Pakistan. That terrorist is hide and ever going to Afghanistan. Indonesia have 17.000 island. It is very difficult place.
gravenimage says
There are lots of places to hide in Pakstan, as well–like right outside the main military college. Hiding is especially easy if many of the pious Muslims there don’t want him to be found…