Sulawesi Beheading Mastermind ‘Not Indonesian’

Banda Aceh, TAG. The man responsible for the 2005 beheadings of three Christian schoolgirls and a string of sectarian murders in Central Sulawesi was not Indonesian but was active in terrorist activities inside the country, including providing shelter for slain international terrorist Dulmatin in Aceh, until he himself was shot dead on Monday.



“Enal Tao, 38, whom we shot [on Monday] was not Indonesian. We can confirm that,” said former Poso Police chief Sr. Comr. Rudi Sufahriadi at a briefing on Tuesday, which was led by Aceh Police officials including Chief. Comr. Esa Permadi, Aceh Police chief of detectives. 



“But we do not know what Enal’s nationality is. He was often spotted in Malaysia and the Philippines. Who his parents or family members are, we do not know. He communicated in Melayu [Malay]. His friends also knew of him that way.” 



Police said Enal used his home in the mountains of Aceh’s Jalin Jantho region as a meeting place for suspected terrorists Ubaid and Abu Yusuf, who are still at large. 



He also hosted Dulmatin, who according to police sources came to Aceh at the end of 2009 and in January to conduct preparations for paramilitary training activities in Jalin Jantho. 



Police said they requested help from convicted murderer Lilik Purnomo, alias Haris, to make sure the man they shot dead on Monday at the Villa Aceh Lestari housing complex in Gla Meunasah Baro village, Krueng Barona Jaya, Aceh Besar, was Enal. 



Haris is currently serving a 14-year jail term in a Jakarta prison over the beheading of teenage girls in Poso. 



At Tuesday’s briefing, Haris told reporters he had viewed the corpse. 

“Enal Tao’s face has not changed. It is him,” Haris said. 



Haris said that Enal had led a group of mercenaries — himself included — that on Oct. 29, 2005, beheaded high school students Yarni Sambue, 15, Interesia Morangke, 16, and Alfita Paulina, 19, just as Muslims were preparing to celebrate the Idul Fitri holiday. 



Haris is one of at least six men serving jail terms over the beheadings. Hasanuddin, who had ordered the slayings, was sentenced to a 20-year prison term. Muhammad Basri alias Bagong received a 19-year jail term, while Haris and Irwanto Irano received 14-year prison terms each. 



“Enal had initially kept the heads of the girls,” Rudi said. The girls’ bodies were left at the site of the attack near a cocoa plantation while their heads were eventually found at separate locations. One was left near a church. 



Enal, according to police records, also shot dead three civilians and a police officer in Poso in 2005. 



“Enal killed civilians Budianto, Sugito and Hasrin Lajidin. He also killed First Brig. Agus Sulaeman, a Poso police officer. All were shot in the head. Agus Sulaeman was in fact, fasting,” Rudi said. 



“Aside from the slayings [of teenage girls], these incidents occurred in the months of August, September and October of 2005.” 



Enal and his accomplices, Rudi added, identified as Dedi Parsan, Icang and Abdul Muis, used three revolvers during a hold up at a gold store in Palu, Central Sulawesi, on Feb. 10, 2006. 



“Two weeks after the robbery, Enal headed to Java via a Pelni ship. Since then, he was never seen in either Palu or Poso,” Rudi said. 



He also said he had nearly been shot by Enal and an accomplice, Yono Sayur, during dawn prayers on Jan. 25, 2006. 



“In truth, I was protected by Allah and I am today still alive,” Rudi said. 



Police confirmed that Enal had been among members of an militant group conducting paramilitary training in Jalin Jantho in February. Police detected the militants in September but intelligence officers opted to watch the group before making the first arrests on Feb. 22 in Aceh. 



Police then launched manhunts in Aceh and Java and have since arrested 46 suspected terrorists and killed at least eight others, including Enal and Dulmatin, who was gunned down in a police raid in March in Tangerang. 



The latest arrests occurred on Sunday in Medan, where six terrorist suspects were arrested at a traffic stop, and during two raids in Aceh on Monday where Enal was killed and four others arrested. Several more are believed to be at large.[]