Indonesia arrests senior cleric for ties to Jemaah Islamiah
Indonesia's counter-terrorism police have arrested a member of a top Islamic council on charges of raising funds for the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) group blamed for deadly bombings, police said on Wednesday. The raid was carried out near Jakarta on Tuesday during which Ahmad Zain An-Najah, a member of the Indonesian Ulema Council, was arrested along with two associates, national police spokesperson Rusdi Hartono said.
Indonesia's counter-terrorism police have arrested a member of a top Islamic council on charges of raising funds for the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) group blamed for deadly bombings, police said on Wednesday.
The raid was carried out near Jakarta on Tuesday during which Ahmad Zain An-Najah, a member of the Indonesian Ulema Council, was arrested along with two associates, national police spokesperson Rusdi Hartono said. JI set up a charity organisation to get funding "for education, social activities...some of the funds are used to mobilise JI," Rusdi told a news conference, adding that Ahmad was a member of the charity's religious board.
The organisation operated in cities on Sumatra and Java islands, including Jakarta, he said. Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority country and a resurgence in militant attacks in recent years has been linked to hundreds of Indonesians who went to Syria and Iraq to fight for Islamic State before returning.
JI is accused of orchestrating the 2002 bombings of Bali nightclubs, which killed more than 200 people. Ahmad was a member of the Ulema Council's commission that issues Islamic edicts, said the body's head Cholil Nafis. His work at the council had nothing to do with militant activities, he said.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ALSO READ
4 teenagers suspected of planning an Islamic extremist attack arrested in Germany
11 people killed and vehicles torched in eastern Congo by Islamic State-linked attackers
Taliban shuts down two TV stations in Afghanistan for not upholding Islamic and national values
"Evidence collected, victim to soon get justice": Karnataka Women Commission on Hubbali murder case
"Daughter stabbed to death for turning down proposal": Father of killed student in Hubbali's college campus