INDONESIAN POLICE'S WAR ON TERROR CRITICIZED

Padang, W Sumatra, March 12 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian police's war on terror in the country has sparked public criticism after lots of main terror suspects are more frequently shot dead than captured.

Imam Bonjol Institute of Islamic Studies' Islamic Thought Expert Professor Duski Samad said Friday the Pamulang incident which ended with Dulmatin's death had disturbed the people's sense of justice.

"Why should the terror suspects be gunned down?" he said in response to the anti-terror police personnel's raids in Pamulang sub-district, South Tangerang regency, last Tuesday.

The policemen involving in the raids were equipped with sophisticated rifles while the terror suspects just had short guns. But, instead of capturing them, the policemen killed them.

"My impression is that the police are less professional," he said, adding that with a bigger number of personnel, the police could arrest them instead of gunning them down.

In the war on terror, the people's senses of religiosity and justice should remain respected by the police, Prof.Samad said.

The police's way of handling the terror suspects as shown in their sweeping operations over the past few years was also criticized by Abu Jibril whose son is being tried for terrorism charges.

Abu Jibril, the father of terrorist suspect Muhammad Jibril, said the Indonesian police's Densus 88 anti-terror squad should not kill the terror suspects as in the Pamulang raids.

During the Tuesday raids, the police personnel gunned down Dulmatin, Indonesia's most wanted terror suspect, and two men believed to be his bodyguards.

Dulmatin, who was confirmed by the Indonesian police responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings, was shot dead in a raid on an internet outlet in Pamulang.

His death was not only announced by the Indonesian police chief in Jakarta on Wednesday but also by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during his state visit in Canberra, Australia.

Indonesia has been fighting terrorist cells in the country since the 2002 Bali bombings that claimed 202 lives, including 88 Australian holiday makers.

Two years before the terrorists attacked the resort island of Bali, Indonesia was rocked by the Christmas eve bombings in 2000.

The latest bombing incident occurred in July 2009. At that time, two suicide bombers simultaneously attacked two luxurious hotels in South Jakarta, killing several people.

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