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Santoso's radicalism rooted in Poso's past: BNPT
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Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel engaged in Operation Tinombala in Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, on April 6. Operation Tinombala, which launched in January and involves 3,500 Police and TNI personnel, is aimed at capturing Indonesia's most wanted terror suspect, Santoso, and his East Indonesia Mujahidin radical group hiding in a mountainous area of Poso. (thejakartapost.com/Ruslan Sangadji)
T
he National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) has intensified de-radicalization efforts in Central Sulawesi’s Poso regency in a bid to tackle terrorism in the area, which the agency believes is rooted in past communal conflicts that inspired the militant network of terror fugitive Santoso.
Santoso was a symbol of rebellion against the government and thus had to be captured, BNPT chief Comr. Gen. Tito Karnavian said on Wednesday.
"Santoso should be apprehended, since he is the symbol. However, capturing him will not immediately tackle the problem in Poso," Tito said at the House of Representatives.
Santoso aka Abu Wardah was not an intellectual or a religious figure in Poso; however his notorious actions had attracted radical militants across Indonesia, Tito explained during a meeting with House Commission III, which oversees legal affairs.
The BNPT believed Santoso was unable to invite a wide range of militants to join his fight. Still, his network had grown, as militants from Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, Java and even Chinese nationals of the Uighur ethnicity had joined the group in Poso, Tito said.
Radicalization had taken place for a long time in Poso following communal conflicts between Muslims and Christians in 1998 and the following years that left hundreds of citizens dead.
By his followers, Santoso was seen as a warrior who rose in Poso’s inter-religious conflict, Tito said.
For its de-radicalization program, the BNPT would approach Poso residents to assist them in moving on, since Poso and its surrounding were no longer a conflict area.
The agency would also invite all stakeholders, especially the central and local governments, to accelerate the economic development in Poso to help local people set the past conflict aside.
"If we can heal them, the spread of radical ideology will not affect them," Tito said.
The National Police and Indonesian Military (TNI) launched Operation Tinombala in January to capture Santoso and his guerilla group, who have believed to be hiding in the forests of Poso's mountainous area. (rin)
