Al-Faruq admits RI ties, Ba'asyir a suspect
Al-Faruq admits RI ties, Ba'asyir a suspect
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Police confirmed on Thursday the presence of al-Qaeda
terrorist networks here following the result of an investigation
conducted by a team dispatched to the U.S. to question Omar al-
Faruq, who is believed to be one of Osama bin Laden's top
representatives in Southeast Asia.
"I don't want to mention all the details again, just to say
that the Time magazine reports were confirmed by Faruq. One of
them is about his presence in Indonesia linking him to subversive
activities," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf said
during a press conference.
"The activities include a plot to kill President Megawati, the
bomb attack on the Istiqlal Mosque in 1999 and the Christmas
Bombings in 2000."
Citing al-Faruq's confession, Saaf also confirmed that the man
of Middle Eastern descent and married to an Indonesian, worked
along with Indonesian accomplices, but declined to mention any
names.
However, Saleh said, police have yet to find any link between
Faruq's confessions and the Bali bomb attack thus far.
The team returned on Wednesday evening from the U.S. after
making "cross checks" with his statements against police records.
"Not only were Faruq's statements as reported by Time magazine
in September consistent, but we also did some cross checks on
other things not included in that report," Saleh asserted.
"We have obtained very valuable information to uncover
terrorist networks in Indonesia," Saleh remarked.
The information they gleaned now confirms the name of Abu
Bakar Ba'asyir, 64, chairman of the radical group Indonesia
Mujahiddin Council (MMI) as reported by Time, was acquainted with
al-Faruq and "involved in many of al-Faruq's plots."
Ba'asyir's lawyer, Mahendradatta, said on Thursday that the
police had ordered the arrest of the Muslim cleric, who is
accused of links with terrorism.
The lawyer said police have issued a summons for Ba'asyir. It
was not clear whether the cleric had already been detained,
however.
"We can only say that we're sad that the government has
succumbed to international pressure to arrest ustadz (the
teacher)," he told AFP.
But deputy spokesman of the National Police, Sr. Comr.
Prasetio, denied the report saying they only had a summons for
Ba'asyir to come on Saturday for questioning as a suspect.
"No, there is no order of arrest against him (Ba'asyir). We
only issued a summons," he told The Jakarta Post.
Time said that Ba'asyir is the leader of JI, a militant group
that seeks to establish a pure Islamic state across Southeast
Asia.
To this point, Ba'asyir has confidently dismissed allegations
that he was acquainted with al-Faruq who is now under U.S.
detention after being arrested on June 5 in Bogor, West Java, and
spirited out of the country.
Ba'asyir filed on Wednesday a lawsuit against Time and charged
the magazine with defamation, claiming Rp 1 trillion in damages.
However, National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar emphasized
that al-Faruq and Ba'asyir were well acquainted.
"That's crystal clear that Faruq knew Ba'asyir," Da'i
asserted.
Da'i added that police still delve into Faruq's details that
he claimed to provide "a number of statements and information
which are subject to follow-ups."