Party joins call for probe into al-Faruq's extyradition to U.S.
Party joins call for probe into al-Faruq's extyradition to U.S.
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Reformed United Development Party (PPP Reformasi)
has joined calls for a probe into the extradition of terror
suspect Omar al-Faruq to the U.S. and demanded that he be
returned to Indonesia.
"Find out who was responsible for the 'escape' of al-Faruq to
the United States," deputy secretary-general of the party Miqdad
Husein said in Bandar Lampung on Sunday.
He also urged the government to bring al-Faruq back to
Indonesia to confront another terror suspect, Muslim cleric Abu
Bakar Ba'asyir.
Similar demands have been made by, among others, Justice Party
(PK) president HM Hidayat Nurwahid and House of Representatives
(DPR) Deputy Speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno.
Time magazine said al-Faruq had admitted to being the senior
regional representative of al-Qaeda. Time also reported that,
according to a CIA report, Ba'asyir authorized al-Faruq to use
operatives and resources from Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) to carry out
the recent plan to bomb U.S. embassies in Jakarta and elsewhere
in the region.
Ba'asyir denies knowing al-Faruq and says JI does not exist.
Earlier on Thursday a senior diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in
Jakarta said it was Indonesia that had offered to allow the U.S.
government to investigate al-Faruq.
Speaking at a media briefing at the embassy, the senior
diplomat added that al-Faruq's questioning by U.S. authorities
was carried out under a cooperation framework between the two
countries.
Meanwhile the Indonesian Police denied on Friday they had made
an offer to the U.S. to question al-Faruq.
Al-Faruq was arrested in Indonesia on June 5 this year and was
immediately transferred to the U.S. The Indonesian Police, who
were not informed of the arrest and extradition, had to obtain
permission from the U.S. government before they could question
al-Faruq, reportedly in the U.S.
The diplomat declined to reply when asked whether it would be
possible to bring al-Faruq back to Indonesia.
"It's up to the Indonesian government. I don't want to
speculate," he said, as quoted by Antara.
Professor of international criminal law at Padjadjaran
University, Bandung, Romli Atmasasmita, said the U.S. government
had no legal basis on which to detain al-Faruq.
"First we must determine his nationality -- whether or not
he's Indonesian," Romli said, as quoted by Antara last week.
"If al-Faruq carries an Indonesian passport, then the U.S.
cannot detain him," he added.
The Indonesian government, on the other hand, had the
obligation to protect al-Faruq from foreign government pressure.
However, if al-Faruq was not an Indonesian, then he had to be
handed over to his country and processed accordingly, Romli
added.