Hassan blames U.S. for Ba'asyir's lenient sentence

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda questioned on Wednesday the United States' commitment to granting Indonesian detectives direct access to terror suspect Riduan Isamuddin.

Hassan said Indonesia was still fighting to get the access promised by the U.S. to question the suspect, who goes by the name Hambali.

"Hambali's case is an important test case. Information sharing and mutual legal assistance are two important elements in fighting terror together.

"Maybe we should question the U.S. commitment in the Hambali case," he said.

Hassan said the failure of the U.S. to grant access to Hambali, who was arrested by Thai and U.S. authorities more than three weeks ago, was one of the reasons for the lenient sentence given to cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir on Tuesday.

Ba'asyir was acquitted of charges that he masterminded terrorist attacks across the country. However, he was sentenced to four years in jail for sedition.

"There was important information missing from Ba'asyir's trial, which could have been gotten from Hambali. This information would have connected Ba'asyir with the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group," the foreign minister said, assuming that Hambali would have been willing to testify against Ba'asyir.

"The trial (of Ba'asyir) demonstrated Indonesia's commitment to fighting terrorism," he said.

Hambali is believed to be a senior member of JI and the point man for the al-Qaeda terror network in Southeast Asia. Ba'asyir was acquitted of being the spiritual leader of JI.

Hassan said U.S. authorities should have given Indonesian officers access to interrogate Hambali in order to strengthen the case against Ba'asyir. -- JP