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Jibril received military training from JI activists: Police
National Police Chief Gen
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ational Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri revealed that Mohamad Jibril had received military training in Pakistan, which followed the suspected terrorist's lawyers and relatives' repeated denial of his past whereabouts and activities,
"Jibril received military training from several Jemaah Islamiyah activists for about a year, from 1999- 2000," Bambang said Thursday during a hearing at the House of Representatives.
"The training was conducted in Pakistan while he was studying there."
Mohamad Jibril alias Mohamad Rizky Ardhan alias Muhammad Jibriel Abdul Rahman was arrested two weeks ago as he had allegedly played an important role in fund-raising for terrorist group led by Malaysian Noordin M. Top.
The police believed the funds were coming from Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia and Yemen although they were still working to find more solid evidence.
Jibril runs a website that contains items ranging from jihad in various parts of the world to more radical essays.
Jibril is the son of Fihiruddin Awwas alias Abu Jibril, a radical cleric who was arrested several years ago by the police over a bomb explosion in his front yard.
Jibril's uncle, Irfan S Awwas, was the chairman of the Indonesia Mujahidin Council (MMI), a radical Islam organization that intends to uphold sharia law throughout the country.
A source close to the police said Jibril's arrest was made after the police managed to find his cellular phone number in Ali Muhammad bin Abdullah's cell phone.
Ali is a Saudi Arabian who was arrested a few days before Jibril.
"The police have also managed to find out that Jibril was introduced to Ali by Syaifudin Zuhri bin Djaelani Irsyad, who is now being pursued by the police," the source said.
Ali Muhammad alias Al Khalil Ali was arrested in Kuningan, West Java, after the police managed to gather evidence from witnesses who saw him in several meetings with Syaifudin Zuhri, a cleric who played an important role in Noordin's terrorist group.
Ali Muhammad was identified as Saudi Arabian according to his passport.
However, the Saudi Arabian embassy in Jakarta has so far been reportedly in great doubt about the passport's authenticity.
Another source within the police said that actually the one who had the link to al-Qaeda was Jibril's brother, who still resides in Saudi Arabia.
"Therefore, so far the police are still trying hard get access to Jibril's brother," the source said.
Commenting on the police efforts, intelligence expert Dynno Chressbon said it was not easy for the police to reveal the international funding link because so far the police did not have a close relationship with their counterparts from Arab countries.
"I have learned that the police are still in the middle of discussing the form of coordination that would suit both countries' interests," he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
In addition to chasing down Noordin and Syaifudin, the police are also still looking for Ario Sudarso, Bagus Budi Pranoto alias Urwah and Muhammad Syahrir.
These people are wanted for their alleged involvement in the July 17 bombings of the luxurious JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels.
