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.