Ba'asyir appeals for hostages' release

Ba'asyir appeals for hostages' release

Lely T. Djuhari Associated Press/Jakarta

Jailed cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir said on Saturday he did not want to be freed in exchange for the release of two Indonesian women taken hostage in Iraq, as their captors have reportedly demanded.

The report of the kidnappers' demand could not immediately be confirmed. However, Ba'asyir urged the militants to release the two women, who have been identified as Rosidah binti Anom and Rafikan binti Aming, "immediately".

"I cannot justify this kidnapping. I demand that they be freed as Islam does not condone taking Muslim sisters and brothers hostage," Ba'asyir said in response to questions from The Associated Press. His voice was recorded and a copy of the recording was brought out of his prison.

"If the captors are Muslim, they truly do not understand Islam," he said.

Ba'asyir's attorney, Muhammad Assegaf, said Ba'asyir wants to fight the charges against him in court and would return to jail himself if Jakarta were to meet the insurgents' reported demand.

"Even if he is released because of this, he will walk right back into prison," Assegaf said.

Assegaf suggested that the reported demand hadn't come from the kidnappers, but could be a "game by the Americans to smear Ba'asyir name. They want to create an impression that there is a link between Abu Bakar Ba'asyir and the group in Iraq".

On Saturday, Arab TV station Al-Jazeera said it had received a written statement from the group demanding that Ba'asyir, who has been in jail since 2002, be released.

If true, the demand to free Ba'asyir would dramatically add to the pressure on the government as it prepares to bring fresh charges against him of heading Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), a regional terror network.

Indonesia's foreign ministry said it would not comment unless the report was confirmed.