Security up after al-Farouq's escape<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that the government would
\nincrease security measures at home to prevent terrorists from
\nlaunching new attacks in the country following the escape of Omar
\nal-Farouq from a U.S. prison in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
\"Because he was arrested in Indonesia, there will certainly be
\nimplications for Indonesia,\" Susilo was quoted by state news
\nagency Antara as saying on Friday.<\/p>\n
Al-Farouq, known as the lieutenant of Osama bin Laden and the
\nleader of the Al Qaeda terror network in the Southeast Asia
\nregion, was arrested by the Indonesian authorities in June 2002
\nin Bogor, West Java, where he had adopted an alias and had two
\nchildren with an Indonesian wife. He was later handed over to
\nU.S. authorities.<\/p>\n
At the time of the arrest, Susilo was the country's chief
\nsecurity minister.<\/p>\n
Al-Farouq was one of four suspected Arab terrorists to escape
\nfrom a heavily fortified detention facility inside a U.S. base in
\nBagram, Afghanistan, in July. Although the escape was widely
\nreported at the time, al-Farouq was identified by an alias and
\nthe U.S. military only confirmed this week that he was among
\nthose who fled. The identity of the two other al-Qaeda leaders as
\nwell as a fourth man who escaped with them has not been revealed.
\nIt also remains unclear how the terrorists could escape from the
\nmaximum security facility.<\/p>\n
Susilo said that the government had yet to receive official
\nnotification of the escape from the U.S. government.<\/p>\n
\"We are communicating through diplomatic channels (with the
\nU.S.) but it has not yet been officially explained how he escaped
\nand where he is now thought to be,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He declined to provide details about the planned security
\nmeasures.<\/p>\n
\"What is important is that Indonesia will make maximum efforts
\nto act against terrorists and curb terrorism,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Separately, al-Farouq's Indonesian wife said the U.S.
\ngovernment should have put her husband on trial.<\/p>\n
\"My husband was kidnapped by America but they never officially
\ntold us ... for more than three years,\" Mira Agustina said as
\nquoted by AP. \"I don't believe that my husband was a terrorist.
\nHe is an ordinary man who cried when he watched movies about
\nviolence.\"<\/p>\n
\"I just wanted America to put him on trial,\" Agustina told
\nreporters at her modest home in the village of Cisalada, about 70
\nkilometers south of Jakarta. During the interview Agustina, 27,
\nwas clad in a black burka, with only her eyes visible.<\/p>\n
Agustina said she married al-Farouq in 1999, when the latter
\nwas allegedly establishing a militant network in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"I was shocked when news broke that my husband was a terrorist
\nwanting to kill many people,\" she said, adding that she told her
\ntwo daughters that their father had gone off to America \"to
\nwork.\"<\/p>\n
Agustina said she believed her husband would never return to
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
\"I do not believe anything they say about him,\" she said.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/security-up-after-al-farouqs-escape-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }