Indonesian Terrorists Targeted ‘Infidel’ Oil Execs

Farouk Arnaz, Adi Mulya & Heru Andriyanto -

Terrorists planned to attack executives of an international oil company in Riau province as well as tourists visiting Anak Krakatau volcano in the Sunda Strait, a police source said on Sunday.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said police learned of the plan while questioning 27-year-old terrorist suspect Fadli Sadama, who was arrested in October in possession of firearms in Malaysia.

A team of seven investigators went to Malaysia to question him last week, and he was brought back to be detained in Jakarta on Saturday.

In the questioning, the source said, police learned Fadli was planning to “ambush, kidnap and kill expatriates or whoever is seen as an infidel” at oil company Chevron Pacific Indonesia in Riau.

Fadli told police he was the commander of a cell in a terrorist network led by Toni Togar, currently serving 20 years in a North Sumatra prison for his involvement in the 2003 Marriot hotel bombing in Jakarta, and as such, “is free to decide on targets.”

Fadli reportedly met with Toni in prison while serving time for his involvement in the 2003 Lippo Bank heist in Medan, in which two bank employees were killed. Fadli was released in July.

The source said the Riau capital of Pekanbaru was Fadli’s hometown, and he had surveyed the location, as well as the Sunda Strait, in planning attacks.

“The target was not tourists staying in cottages or hotels, but those on small boats around Mount Anak Krakatau,” the source said. “Its like a random target. Whatever tourists they meet, they’d capture.”

Comr. Petrus Golose, director of the National Anti-Terrorism Agency (BNPT), told a news conference on Saturday that Fadli was plotting acts of terrorism in Pekanbaru and the Anak Krakatau area, without providing details.

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Reuters Photo/Anton S. Tri Pambudi

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