Suspicion hangs over Jihad high school

TEN years on from the terror inflicted on Bali, the same school that produced some of the bombers is still clouded in suspicion, amid fresh accusations it is cultivating a new wave of extremists.

The teachers at Al-Mukmin - a "phesantren" or Islamic boarding school in the Central Java city of Solo - deny that it is a breeding ground for Islamic fundamentalism.

But the school, founded 40 years ago by radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, has infamous alumni including Bali bombers Muklas and Amrozi, who were both executed for their roles in the 2002 attack in Kuta.

That bombing of two nightclubs in Bali, which killed 202 people including 88 Australians, remains Indonesia's deadliest terrorist attack.

The school's undeniable legacy was reinforced again just three weeks ago when another graduate, a 19-year-old boy named Farhan, was killed in a shootout with officers from Indonesia's crack anti-terrorism squad Densus 88.

The shooting, on a busy street in Solo, came after it was revealed just days earlier that three French nationals behind terror attacks in Paris and Toulouse in March this year had connections to Al-Mukmin.

Farhan was a member of Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid (JAT), also founded by Bashir, and designated a terrorist organisation by the United States in February.

The US government blames JAT for a number of attacks in Indonesia but the organisation remains active and has an office right across the road from Al-Mukmin. (continue reading...)