Police asked no question about al-Qaeda: Ba'asyir<\/p>\n
Yogita Tahil Ramani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir stated that police had not
\nasked him any questions about his alleged links to the al-Qaeda
\nnetwork during his police questioning on Thursday, despite having
\nbeen summoned by police to clarify those alleged links.<\/p>\n
Emerging for a brief break from questioning at the National
\nPolice Intelligence office, Ba'asyir said the police had focused
\ntheir questions on the Islamic teachings in which he was
\ninvolved, his activities during the time he had spent in Malaysia
\nand his current duties as a cleric.<\/p>\n
\"They asked me what I had been teaching ... the content of my
\ncourses, but have not asked me any questions about al-Qaeda as
\nyet. I have said before, I have no connection with al-Qaeda,\" the
\nchief of the Indonesian Mujahideen Council (MMI) told reporters
\non Thursday.<\/p>\n
Ba'asyir's claim came as no surprise and clearly reflected the
\npolice's apparent lack of concern about the reported presence of
\nalleged terrorist groups and individuals in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
He has often said that he stressed crucial matters like \"jihad
\nand mati syahid (to die fighting to uphold Islam)\" in his
\nteachings to his students both in Malaysia and Indonesia, and
\ngreatly respected the al-Qaeda network and terrorist prime
\nsuspect Osama bin Laden for fighting to uphold the teachings of
\nIslam.<\/p>\n
Ba'asyir was detained by Malaysian police last month, along
\nwith 12 other militants, for allegedly trying to establish an
\nIslamic government and having ties to a suspect of the Sept. 11
\nattacks in New York and Washington.<\/p>\n
He soon returned to Indonesia after Malaysian police
\nreportedly found no evidence against him.<\/p>\n
Flanked by bodyguards on Thursday, Ba'asyir and his army of
\nlawyers appeared briefly before waiting reporters at the National
\nPolice Headquarters before being escorted by police for
\nquestioning, which began at about 9:30 a.m.<\/p>\n
After a break, the police resumed questioning him at 2:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
Having once been jailed here for setting up a paramilitary
\nforce to fight for an Islamic nation and later spending years
\nreportedly teaching in Malaysia, Ba'asyir is suspected by
\nIndonesia's neighboring countries of being a leader of the al-
\nQaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah network.<\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said on Thursday the
\ngovernment would continue its attempt to prevent foreign
\nterrorist groups from entering the country via a series of
\ncooperative measures with neighboring countries.<\/p>\n
He denied speculation that the move was being taken after
\nincreasing pressure from the United States.<\/p>\n
\"We exchange intelligence information and monitor weapons-
\nsmuggling with authorities in Malaysia and the Philippines,\"
\nHassan said, following a hearing with House Commission I for
\ninternational affairs here.<\/p>\n
He emphasized that Indonesia had worked on efforts to combat
\nterrorism long before the Sept. 11 attacks in Washington and New
\nYork.<\/p>\n
\"We have long had the mechanism to deal with cross-border
\nterrorism and crimes, especially weapons-smuggling,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Concerning speculation that groups or individuals linked to
\nthe al-Qaeda terrorist network were allegedly present in
\nIndonesia, Hassan simply said that concrete results had still to
\nbe produced from an investigation conducted by authorities.<\/p>\n
On possible links between Ba'asyir and suspected militants,
\nteachers at an Islamic boarding school which Ba'asyir had founded
\nin Surakarta, he said that an Indonesian, arrested for suspected
\nlinks to al-Qaeda in the Philippines, had studied and graduated
\nfrom the school.<\/p>\n
The Philippines police earlier said that Fathur Rohman al-
\nGhozi, 30, had been an explosives expert with the Moro Islamic
\nLiberation Front, a Muslim separatist group that has since
\nstarted talks with Manila.<\/p>\n
On Fathur, Hassan said that the Indonesian government would
\nrespect the law of Indonesia's neighboring countries, including
\nthose of the Philippines.<\/p>\n
Fathur is of Indonesian origin, but carries at least five
\npassports, including those from Indonesia and the Philippines,
\nand has five different aliases.<\/p>\n
Hassan confirmed the matter of the five passports, saying that
\nthree had been issued by Philippines authorities.<\/p>\n
\"The latest passport was issued by Indonesian authorities last
\nyear,\" said Hassan, adding that Fathur had entered the
\nPhilippines in 1996.<\/p>\n
He added that the government had already requested Philippines
\nauthorities to allow Indonesia to send a representative to
\naccompany Fathur and give him legal advice.<\/p>",
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