Moves afoot to label shadowy Asia group terrorist
Moves afoot to label shadowy Asia group terrorist
Reuters, Jakarta
Many Asia-Pacific nations are moving towards calling a regional group at the center of suspicion over last weekend's massive bomb attacks in Bali a terrorist organization, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.
No countries have yet labeled the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah network a terrorist group, although the United States has said it was considering doing so.
Such a move would put even more heat on Indonesia -- already under intense scrutiny in the wake of the Bali blasts -- to take action against militant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, alleged by officials in some countries to be the head of Jemaah Islamiah.
Asked by a small group of reporters if he expected Jakarta to declare Jemaah Islamiah a terrorist body, the U.S. official said: "I think the chances are very good that many APEC members, including many ASEAN members are moving in that direction and it would be great for Indonesia, for the region, if they were to join in that."
The U.S. official, who declined to be identified, said that did not mean he thought countries under the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum might issue a statement to that effect when its leaders meet in Mexico from Oct. 26-27.
ASEAN is the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations which includes Indonesia.
No group has claimed responsibility for the Bali carnage, but suspicion has fallen on al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiah, which has been accused of seeking to bomb Western targets as part of efforts to set up an independent Islamic state in Southeast Asia.
More than 180 people were killed in the Bali attacks, which leveled a prime section of its tourist strip near Kuta Beach.
Ba'asyir has been ordered to appear for questioning in Jakarta on Saturday in relation to a bombing in 2000. He has since been taken to hospital and may not be able to attend, an aide said earlier.
Ba'asyir has denied any wrongdoing and says Jemaah Islamiah does not exist.
The U.S. official said around 200 dependents of U.S. embassy staff in Indonesia, as well as 90 embassy personnel, would have left the world's most populous Muslim country by Friday night in response to the heightened concerns over security.
That would leave about 100 embassy staff in the country.
The U.S. official added that Indonesia was in the international spotlight and needed to respond decisively.
"I think Indonesia is very much at a crossroads, not just with the international community, but with itself in terms of measuring up to how this fringe element is going to represent itself in Indonesia...," said the official.
"I don't think it's overstating it to say they are at a crossroads, the next few days are potentially quite historical," the official added, without elaborating.