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Terrorist Turns Himself In, Fueling Hunt for Weapons
Farouk Arnaz | February 09, 2012

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A fugitive who is believed to be a part of the Abu Umar terrorist network has turned himself in, prompting police to expand their investigation, a source from the National Police’s counterterrorism unit said on Thursday.

“Mulyadi, who was on our wanted list, showed up at the National Police headquarters on Wednesday night to turn himself in,” the police source told the Jakarta Globe.

“Right now we are digging deeper based on his confession and what he told us about the stashing of firearms in a number of locations, including Depok [West Java],” the source added.

Umar, whose name had been on the police’s wanted list since 1999 prior to his arrest last year, is on trial at the West Jakarta District Court for running terror training camps and smuggling weapons into the country.

Police learned of his whereabouts after breaking up an arms-smuggling syndicate from Mindanao, in the southern Philippines, that had been providing weapons for militant groups in Indonesia.

Umar was arrested last July at his home in Bogor, where police confiscated a handgun and 50 rounds of ammunition.

In November, police conducted a search in Depok for firearms that Umar allegedly hid, looking at several locations including the University of Indonesia campus. The search turned out empty.

The source said that Mulyadi was taken to the university campus with his hands tied together at 3:30 p.m., escorted by about 15 officers from the police’s counterterrorism unit, Densus 88.

Mulyadi led the police officers to the forested area in front of the university’s school of economics. A hundred meters from the edge of the forest, the officers dug two holes and found one assault rifle.

“We have uncovered a Jungle assault rifle, which he buried himself,” the source said. “We are still trying to convince him to show where he buried an FN handgun and its ammunition.”

Nine more people were also apprehended following the arrest of the suspected terrorist ring leader. These arrests led to the discovery of more firearms stashed in his followers’ homes and other locations.

Police have so far confiscated two M16 assault rifles, an FN handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition from Umar’s followers.

Last month, prosecutors indicted Umar as well as nine of his followers on charges of terrorism. The group was also charged under the 1951 Emergency Law for providing illicit weapons.

All 10 defendants could face the death penalty if found guilty.

Umar, a figure in the outlawed organization Darul Islam, was also sought for his alleged role in a plot hatched in 1999 to attack former Defense Minister Matori Abdul Jalil, and for supplying weapons to a group that attacked a police post in Loki, Ambon, in 2005, leaving five officers dead.