Ba'asyir named as suspect, but calls in sick

Damar Harsanto and Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Surakarta

Police said on Friday they had named Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, chairman of the Indonesian Mujahidin Council, as a suspect in several high profile cases, including a string of bomb attacks across the country, as well as treason.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf said that they had summoned Ba'asyir for questioning in relation to the charges.

"We've named Ba'asyir as a suspect following the results of police investigations into Omar al-Faruq. And we've summoned him for questioning on Saturday," he said.

The charges were based on the results of an investigation conducted by a police team dispatched to the U.S. to question al- Faruq. The team was led by Brig. Gen. Ariyanto Sutadi, national police detectives' director for general crimes.

Ariyanto said Ba'asyir and al-Faruq were involved in various terrorist activities.

"Ba'asyir entered and left the country without official documents ... He was also involved in an evil conspiracy linked to explosives ... ," Ariyanto said.

According to Ariyanto, Ba'asyir violated the Criminal Code's article 187 on arson, explosives and other offenses endangering public security and property. The articles maximum sentences of life imprisonment.

Aryanto also revealed that the police had sufficient evidence and witnesses implicating both al-Faruq and Ba'asyir.

The cleric, however, was set to not show up at police headquarters for questioning on Saturday morning due to claims of ill health. He was reportedly treated on Friday at the Muhammadiyah hospital in Surakarta, Central Java, for heart and respiratory problems.

Dr. Suradi, a lung and respiratory specialist at the hospital, who treated Ba'asyir, confirmed that the cleric suffered from heart and respiratory problems.

"Due to health problems,Ustad (cleric) Ba'asyir is required to receive intensive medical treatment for several days ... Definitely, until tomorrow he will not be allowed to leave the hospital," said Suradi.

Commenting on Ba'asyir's alleged health problems, Saleh said that Ba'asyir must first convince police investigators that he was really sick.

"If he cannot appear due to health reasons, he must convince police investigators through medical reports from two doctors who are treating him as well as doctors from the police," Saleh told The Jakarta Post. "That's standard procedure according to the Criminal Procedures Code."

Saleh remarked that the police's next move against Ba'asyir would depend on the investigators.

Previously, Ba'asyir, who is also the head of the Ngruki Islamic boarding school in Surakarta, held a press conference for almost an hour to deny all the charges.

"It's a dirty plot engineered by the government. It's simply a lie. If they have the evidence, please prove it," he said.

Police had revealed earlier on Thursday that Ba'asyir was acquainted with al-Faruq, who is believed to be one of Osama bin Laden's top operatives in Southeast Asia.

Police confirmation of al-Faruq's statements has highlighted the statement made earlier by Minister of Defense Matori Abdul Djalil about the presence of the al-Qaeda terrorist network in Indonesia. Such confirmation is at odds with statements made by Vice President Hamzah Haz, who has repeatedly denied the existence of any terrorist network in the country.

However, in contrast to Hamzah's earlier statements, the Vice President admitted on Friday that his denial of the presence of terrorist networks in Indonesia was meant to calm the general public and foreign investors.

Meanwhile, legislator Aisyah Amini doubted al-Faruq's confession, despite the police confirmation, saying "it could be engineered by a foreign power."

Aisyah's statement underlines the fact that speculation is rife among public here that al-Faruq's statement was engineered to pressure the Indonesian government on the terrorism issue.--Muninggar Sri Saraswati also contributed to this story