Australian agents raid RI Muslim homes

Australian agents raid RI Muslim homes

Agencies, Sydney/Jakarta

Heavily-armed Australian federal agents raided homes of
Indonesian Muslims on Wednesday in a nationwide hunt for members
of an Islamic radical group held responsible for the Oct. 12
bombing in Bali, AFP reported.

Police and intelligence agents armed with submachine guns and
wearing helmets, flak-jackets and masks smashed their way into
two homes in pre-dawn raids in the Perth suburb of Thornlie in
Western Australia.

Also on Wednesday agents in Sydney arrested a 31-year-old man
on visa offenses during the search of a home belonging to another
Indonesian, Ali Basri, whose son Jaya was targeted by a similar
raid on Sunday.

Officials also confirmed two other homes were raided on the
weekend by members of the Australian Security Intelligence
Organization (ASIO) and federal police in a hunt for agents of
JI, an organization which has been put on the list of terrorist
groups by the UN Security Council.

The raids are the first since the Oct. 12 Bali bomb blast.

No arrests have been made but videos, computers, computer
discs, mobile phones and other material including passports were
taken in the raids, police said.

Attorney General Daryl Williams said the operations were "part
of a wider and ongoing investigation into the possible presence
of Jamaah Islamiyah in Australia."

"We are doing what is necessary in the interests of the
Australian community, and it will be done under proper legal
means," he said.

But neighbors of the targeted homes, civil libertarians and
Muslim community leaders questioned the level of force used in
the raids.

"The federal police hit the fence in the front, hit the
security door and ... broke the door on the side to go through to
the back yard as well," said Jan Herbert, whose home was one of
the two raided in Perth.

Herbert told the Australian Associated Press that police asked
him about his ties to the alleged spiritual leader of JI, Abu
Bakar Ba'asyir, who was arrested by Indonesian police on Oct. 20.

"I meet him when he was giving a lecture in Sydney when he was
in Sydney eight or nine years ago, something like that," he said.
"(I was) just a normal visitor. The main topic (of his) lecture
was he disagreed with (the) Indonesian government," he said.

Indonesia quickly expressed its concern over the raid, which
was part of a crackdown on possible Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) members
operating in Australia. Indonesia foreign ministry spokesman
Marty Natalegawa in Jakarta said Australia should have notified
Indonesia of the raid beforehand, citing international rules that
require prior notification when a government proceeds with legal
steps against foreign nationals.

Marty added said his office had reminded Canberra through its
embassy here of the international convention Australia had also
to comply with when it takes legal measures against Indonesian
nationals residing there.

"We have been informed that our citizens received heavy handed
treatment from Australian authorities," Marty told The Jakarta
Post on Wednesday.

"They have to inform Indonesian representatives if an
Indonesian national has to go through legal proceedings."

Marty said Canberra had never notified Jakarta prior to or
after the raids.

In its official complaint to the Australian Embassy here,
Jakarta also expressed concerns about remarks made by some
Australian newspapers regarding a certain religion in Indonesia.

"We noted that there were unfriendly remarks against a certain
ethnic group and religion in Indonesia made by some Australian
media," Marty added.