Terrorist behind Jakarta attack 'a good man': Brother

JAKARTA: When Indonesia welcomed the New Year, Desi welcomed her new neighbours, three quiet men whose faces she can barely remember.

The young cashier is renting a tiny room in a rundown building on the outskirts of Jakarta, where she lives with her girlfriend. Although Desi had not quite gotten to know her neighbours she did know their friend Mohammad Ali, a father of three who grew up with her landlord.

Ali lived with his family some 500 metres away in the same village of Sanggrahan, west of the capital. He was one of four terrorists with links to the Islamic State (IS) militant group in Syria and Iraq who carried out a deadly terror attack ^[1] on Jan 14, which claimed eight lives.

Later, the terrorists were identified as Dian Joni Kurniad, Ahmad Muhazan Bin Saron, Afif, who was also known as Sunakin, and Ali.

The entrance way to a room rented by Mohammad Ali for two weeks in Sanggrahan village outside Jakarta. (Photo: Pichayada Promchertchoo)

"Before the attack, they had stayed in this room for nearly two weeks. Ali told the landlord's wife that his friends were going to rent the room for two weeks," 19-year-old Desi told Channel NewsAsia, admitting that she did not think the men looked like "bad guys" despite their strange behaviour.

"They always tried to avoid people's eyes. Every night, one of them would stay outside their room, guarding the door while smoking or drinking coffee," she said.

"One time I asked them where they came from. Nobody replied."

Locals said a group of men rented an apartment in this complex and were acting strangely in the lead-up to the attack. (Photo: Pichayada Promchertchoo)

On the morning of Jan 14, the three men left their room at the end of the corridor and were picked up by Ali. "They had a backpack," Desi said, citing an eyewitness account by her landlord's wife.

"After the attack, police also found a bomb in their room," she claimed, but authorities have not confirmed if this was the case.

'A VERY NICE PERSON'

The news came as a shock to Desi and other residents of Sanggrahan village, who said they knew Ali to be a very nice person. His brother, Syaidina Rafiu, said he had no idea Ali was a terrorist.

"Ali was like a very private person; he wasn't always open. He was also very disciplined and nationalistic. Was he a good man? Yes, he was," said Syaidina, as he sat on a well-swept patio, not too far from Ali's black motorcycle in its usual spot next to the family's unkempt garden.

The motorcycle belonging to Mohammad Ali, according to his brother. (Photo: Pichayada Promchertchoo)

"He would always get angry if his children missed any prayers. He said it's a priority. Still, Ali went down the wrong path. Maybe that's because of the people he hung out with."

"He was a kind of son who… Sorry, I can't continue," he said in tears. "We didn't expect that incident."

Since Ali's death, his family has been wanting to collect his body for an Islamic burial, which would in normal circumstances take place no more than 24 hours after death. But for the slain terrorists, it has been nearly a week since they breathed their last.

Syaidina and his family plan to organise a press conference after holding last rites for Ali to apologise to the nation and President Joko Widodo for the crime he committed.

Mohammad Ali's sons playing in Sanggrahan village. (Photo: Pichayada Promchertchoo)

"I'd like to say on his behalf that we're awfully sorry for the victims who were killed or injured either by the bombs or gunshots. Perhaps it is a destiny. Perhaps it is Allah's will," he said.

Syaidina said he still cannot come to terms with his brother's decision to embrace terrorism as his religious duty, or jihad.

"I'm disappointed with the goal he set for his life. It's different from our family's. If we're talking about jihad, working and earning for your family is also jihad. I'm really disappointed. Why has he become a terrorist?"

"We never knew that."

ATTACKS FAR MORE DEADLY

Ali's involvement in the latest terror attack on Indonesia may be shocking for his family and neighbours but not at all in doubt, according to police.

Following the incident, police came to his family home and found what they believe could be an IS flag.

"Police have taken a few things from our house. They were duct tape, phone charger, knives and a piece of black fabric - a flag," Syaidina recalled. "Police said there are Arabic words on it."

Ali's neighbours also remembered the man they described as "nice and humble" once saying that "he really wanted to go to Syria to free Muslim people from oppression".

"He said if someone wanted to give him some money to go to Syria, he would be very happy," said one of the residents who wished to remain anonymous. "We were very shocked to learn that he was linked to Islamic State."

"We never knew." Residents of a small village outside Jakarta have reacted with shock after discovering that a local man Mohammad Ali was one of the perpetrators of the deadly attacks in the Indonesian capital. His brother said he had no idea Ali was a terrorist. Pichayada Promchertchoo went there to find out more. http://bit.ly/1V7LPU4
Posted by Channel NewsAsia ^[2] on Wednesday, 20 January 2016

Last week, the militant group claimed responsibility ^[3] for the attack on Jakarta's Jalan MH Thamrin, the group's first assault in Southeast Asia. It is region that offers fertile conditions for "an explosion of terrorism based on religion," according to Singapore's Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam.

"Religion has again risen with renewed vigor, as a force for good and also, in the hands of some, as a tool for terror," Mr Shanmugam said on Tuesday. "The zealots want to overthrow elected governments and establish a Caliphate."

Indonesian police chief Badrodin Haitin also voiced his concerns over the return of Indonesian IS fighters from the Middle East and the possibility of more deadly attacks.

"We have documents for proof of other potential security threats but I can't talk about them."

On Monday, a letter purportedly from IS was delivered by a man in a black jacket to police on Indonesia's popular resort island of Bali.

Placed within an envelope, the letter threatened to "blow up" the Balinese cities of Denpasar and Singaraja "in the name of Allah".

After last week's bombings, security has been stepped up across the country, with every single police officer now tasked to work with counter-terrorism squad Densus 88 to prevent further attacks in their country, Mr Badrodin said.

He also urged police to closely monitor Islamic State terror suspects and respond quickly to any terror incidents. Thirteen suspects were arrested ^[4] after the Jakarta attack, with police saying six out of eight people investigated so far were connected to the perpetrators, while the other two were affiliates.

Apart from a greater security presence, life has mostly returned to normal in Jakarta. But in Sanggrahan village, the shock and fear is still palpable.

"I'm afraid," said Desi, who is now looking for a new room to rent, somewhere else.