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Police arrest militant group top leader following Islamic caliphate rally
Abdul Qadir Hasan Baraja, leader of Khilafatul Muslimin, some of whose members are affiliated to the Islamic State terror outfit, was arrested in the Lampung provincial capital of Bandarlampung and brought to Jakarta for further questioning and investigation, according to the police.
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Muslim cleric Abdul Qadir Hasan Baraja was arrested on June 7, 2022. (The Jakarta Post/YouTube)
T
he National Police on Tuesday arrested a 77-year-old top leader of a militant group, following a recent series of motorbike convoys in Jakarta and other cities promoting the establishment of an Islamic state.
Abdul Qadir Hasan Baraja, leader of Khilafatul Muslimin, some of whose members are affiliated to the Islamic State terror outfit, was arrested in the Lampung provincial capital of Bandarlampung and brought to Jakarta for further questioning and investigation, according to the police.
His arrest followed a series of motorbike convoys in the capital and some cities in West and Central Java provinces, as well as in the country's second-largest city of Surabaya.
During the convoys, the organization's members, as well as their children, carried banners saying "Greet the Rise of Khilafah Islamiyyah (Islamic Caliphate)."
Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Endra Zulpan confirmed the arrest but did not give further details, including the charge.
Abdul Qadir is a close friend and a former right hand of Abu Bakar Bashir, spiritual leader Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian wing of international terrorist network al-Qaida.
He was convicted in some terrorism cases in the past. In 1979, he was jailed for three years for robbing a car carrying salaries of university staff to finance terrorism acts.
In 1985, he was sentenced for 13 years for a series of terrorist acts, including the bombings of Borobudur Buddhist Temple in Central Java Province, a seminary, a Catholic church and a passenger bus.
Aswin Siregar, a senior police officer at the counterterrorism police unit Detachment 88, said Khilafatul Muslimin is less known by the public compared to other militant groups but it has a very long history of terrorism acts since being established in 1997.
