Osama shirts shelved as antiterror efforts upped

Osama shirts shelved as antiterror efforts upped

Agence France-Presse, Jakarta

Shirts carrying the face of Osama bin Laden, have disappeared from markets in the Indonesian garment-producing city of Bandung as the country steps up its anti-terror efforts, a report said on Monday.

The t-shirts had been a popular item in Indonesia, world's largest Muslim-populated nation, along with those featuring former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

"I am scared now to produce Osama's picture (on t-shirts) or sell them on sidewalks ... they can become a problem because I could then be suspected of things," vendor Ate, 34, told the state Antara news agency.

Ate, who operates in the Tegallega area of Bandung -- a textile and garment producing center in West Java -- said that he was worried the t-shirt would incur the wrath of authorities.

But he said he still felt "secure" selling Saddam t-shirts.

Billy, a t-shirt producer, told Antara he was now afraid to make the bin Laden shirts

"The faces of known figures are hard sellers but now we are thinking twice about (reproducing) Osama's picture, because we fear something may happen," he said without elaborating.

The Indonesian government has vowed to step up its battle against terrorists who it has blames for a series of bombings in the past years, including in Bali on Oct. 12, 2002 and in Jakarta on Aug. 5.

A total of 202 people were killed in the Bali blast while in Jakarta the bombing of a U.S.-run hotel left 12 people killed and more than 140 injured.

Police have indicated that the al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) regional terrorist network may be behind the bombings.