Four Malaysian Ji Members Confess

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Four Malaysian JI members confess

KUALA LUMPUR: Four Malaysians detained in Indonesia have confessed to being part of an international network of terrorists involved in several bomb attacks, including the bombings in Bali and Manila.

Nasir Abas, Jaafar Anwarul, Samsul Bahari Hussein and Amran Mansor admitted in an interview with TV3 yesterday that they were members of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) and had links with al-Qaeda.

The four, who were arrested about a year ago, have since repented. Amran said he played a direct role in the Christmas eve church bombings in Medan, Batam and Pekan Baru in 2000.

Expressing regret over their actions which resulted in the death of many innocent people, especially women and children, they asked for forgiveness from Allah and the affected families.

From left, Nasir Abas, Jaafar Anwarul, Samsul Bahri Hussein and Amran Mansor appear in the interview with TV3 recorded in Jakarta on March 11 and aired in Malaysia on April 2. The four are waiting to face charges in Indonesia.

If given the chance, they said, they wanted to make up for their sins and return to society and be responsible citizens.

Nasir, the highest ranking JI member by virtue of being the Mantiki 3 (regional chief in charge of Sabah, Malaysia, East Kalimantan, Sulawesi and southern Philippines) at the time of his arrest, said he had trained several top JI leaders in military warfare.

He said they included convicted Bali bombers Ali Imron and Imam Samudera, and Saad Fathurrahman Al Ghozi, who was accused of masterminding bombings that killed 22 people in the Philippines in December 2000.

Ali and Imam have been sentenced to death while Al-Ghozi, who was jailed last year for 17 years, was killed by police in a shootout after escaping from prison.

“Several of them were involved in the bombings here and in the Philippines, and after seeing what they had done to innocent people, I felt sad,” said Nasir.

He said what they did was against what he had taught them and, “most of all, against the teachings of Islam.”

“Islam never taught us to kill innocent civilians,” he added.

Nasir said that the bombings were based on a fatwa (religious edict) that was allegedly issued by Abubakar Ba’asyir, whom he added was the JI’s amir (spiritual leader).

Abubakar, who denies being the group’s leader, is to be set free from a Jakarta prison soon after the supreme court halved a three-year sentence for immigration offences and document forgery.

Nasir said the fatwa was passed on to them by Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, the alleged point man for the al-Qaeda terror network in Asia.

Hambali is under US custody after being arrested in Thailand last year.

The fatwa had urged Muslims to defend their religion and to attack Americans who had killed many Muslims worldwide.

Nasir said that the fatwa gave the JI members the right to kill American soldiers even if they were not armed, as well as civilians, including innocent women and children.

He added that the same fatwa was given to other Mantikis and he had learnt that it was actually issued by Osama bin Laden to Abubakar.

“I personally read a photocopy of the fatwa but could not accept it and did not read it out to any of my followers.

“I asked myself whether it was right for me to attack innocent people when it was the leadership that we were after.

“I also asked what if there was a Muslim among the innocent Americans that we kill,” he added.

Nasir said he became aware that the JI had deviated from its objectives before his arrest but due to his lack of knowledge and fear of leaving the organisation, he continued to stay on.

He said that after his arrest he became more aware of the JI’s activities and how they had deviated from their original teachings.

“The JI is being run by Islamic activists who actually lure and trap people before forcing them to adhere and idolise and worship the organisation,” he said.

The others also expressed regret over their involvement with the group.

Samsul Bahri said: “Actually when I first joined JI, I just wanted to do good for religion’s sake. I did not expect that my friends and colleagues such as Dr Azahari (Husin) and Nordin Mohd Top would be involved in bombings and other militant activities.

“I am really very disappointed with the Bali and the Hotel Marriot bombings where innocent people were killed.

Amran said: “All this while, I felt my path was a confusing one be-cause I was loyal to something which was not actually based on truth – that is based on the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah.

“Therefore, I advice friends - who still feel the JI is true – to re-evaluate what is appropriate according to the Quran and Sunnah, and to seek the opinion of other clerics.

“Other clerics will not allow such violence as practised by JI,” he said.

Jaafar said: “I never expected and regret what happened to the Pondok Lukmanul Hakim. The bombings that took place has betrayed the Muslim faith and that of its believers.

“I seek forgiveness for my involvement in the JI and appeal to all my friends in the JI to drop their struggle as it is not beneficial.”

--The Star, MY 2004-04-03