Indonesian charged with assisting suspected terrorists

Indonesian charged with assisting suspected terrorists

Tiarma Siboro and Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

An Indonesian man, whom the FBI named as a contact person for
airline hijacker Mohammad Atta, was arrested and charged with
helping to obtain a fake driver's license for another man
identified as a contact for Osama bin Laden, AP reported on
Tuesday.

A criminal complaint filed on Monday charged Agus Budiman with
helping Mohammad Bin Nasser Belfas obtain a Virginia driver's
license.

Agus appeared before a U.S. magistrate in the Washington
suburb on Monday.

Agus and Belfas are among 370 names included on a detailed FBI
list of people sought for questioning in the investigation of the
Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. The list was
released last month by Finnish banking authorities.

Agus is identified on the list as a U.S. contact person for
Atta, the presumed ringleader of the 19 hijackers. Belfas is
identified as a contact person for bin Laden, the prime suspect
in the attacks. No charges against Belfas have been made public,
and his whereabouts could not be obtained.

According to the criminal complaint, Agus and Belfas came to
the United States from Hamburg, Germany, in October 2000.

Attorney General John Ashcroft has said that Atta and two
other hijackers were part of a terrorist cell that operated in
Hamburg and the United States.

The complaint alleges Agus helped Belfas obtain a Virginia ID
card by certifying on Nov. 4, 2000 that he and Belfas both lived
at an Arlington, Virginia, address. Neither of the men actually
lived there, the complaint said, but Belfas later used the ID
card to obtain a Virginia driver's license.

Agus appeared in the same federal courthouse on Monday where
prosecutors obtained guilty pleas from two men arrested in
connection with the Sept. 11 attacks.

In Jakarta, deputy spokesman of the National Police Adj. Sr.
Comr. Prasetyo said police could not give immediate information
about Agus Budiman.

"We have contacted Virginia's Interpol office and they have
asked us to wait until tomorrow," he said.

When contacted separately, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
spokesman Wahid Supriyadi said he was only informed about the
matter on Tuesday afternoon and has tried to contact the
country's representatives in the United States.

"Our officials there have checked every detention center but
could not locate Agus Budiman. We only found those detained for
immigration violations in Massachusetts and New Hampshire," he
said.

Wahid added that the government would do its best to "protect
Agus' rights and ask for a guarantee from the U.S. government
that he would be treated fairly in court."

A spokesman of a Muslim group claimed that he had never heard
of Agus Budiman.

"If he (Agus Budiman) had been actively involved in any
radical groups here, he must have used other names," said Al
Chaidar from Darul Islam, adding that the name Agus was not
familiar.

Al Chaidar said it was not easy to "get involved and be
trusted by people from the Middle East" and that only a few
Muslim groups in the country were able to establish links with
people from international Islamic movements like Al-Qaida.

"Very few. Other than Darul Islam, there is just the Syiah
group of Illiyah faction."

Meanwhile, an Indonesian student belonging to the Association
of Indonesian Students in the United States (PERMIAS) told The
Jakarta Post that Agus had a link with the Arab community in
Germany.

The student, who requested anonymity, told The Jakarta Post
over the phone on Tuesday that he had met Agus about a year ago.
Agus had later introduced him to an Arabian man called Belfas. He
did not explain where and how they came to meet.

"At that time, Belfas, who looked 40 years old, said that he
was the chairman of an Islamic organization in Germany," he said.

According to the student, who is still studying at Southern
University, Agus was enrolled at Washington University in St.
Louis.

The student said Agus, around 30 years old, was the elder
brother of his former roommate named Faisal. In Indonesia, they
both lived in Jakarta. They once lived in Bandung, West Java.

He said he had lost contact with Faisal, Agus, and Belfas.
"Belfast has reportedly returned to Germany," he said.

"The FBI is intensifying its investigation on other
Indonesians believed to have links with Belfas and Agus," he
said.

Asked if he knew that Agus was being tried at Alexandria,
Virginia district court, the student said that "the issue is a
sensitive one among Indonesian students and that the trial should
be held behind closed doors."

"But actually I don't have any idea about whether Agus will be
tried here or not," he said.