Indonesian arrested in southern Thailand
By Kenneth Conboy
This weekend, Indonesian citizen Sulaiman Abdulgani, 42, was arrested in a rented house in Yala province with his Thai Muslim wife. Both were charged with drug trafficking, while Sulaiman was also charged with illegally possessing a .38-caliber pistol. The Thai police reported that Sulaiman had been a member of the Free Aceh Movement, but had been living in Thailand for several years. He was the second Indonesian national in as many years who was arrested in southern Thailand on drug charges.
Sulaiman's arrest comes a week after several Thai military officials stated Indonesian and Cambodian extremists were likely training Thai Muslim radicals. Their evidence to date, however, is far from convincing. Colonel Akara Thiprote made the (somewhat ridiculous) claim that Indonesians--presumably from Jemaah Islamiyah--had probably trained Thai counterparts to decapitate their victims because "Thai people don't know about such things and must be taught." Other statements have been equally speculative.
There is no denying that in years past there was some contact between Jemaah Islamiyah and Thai nationals who had trained in Pakistan during the anti-Soviet jihad. There also was some contact between members of the Free Aceh Movement and Thai radicals; to be sure, small numbers of rifles with Thai markings turned up in Aceh prior to 2003. But compelling evidence of more recent synergy is pending.