Police asked no question about al-Qaeda: Ba'asyir

Yogita Tahil Ramani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir stated that police had not asked him any questions about his alleged links to the al-Qaeda network during his police questioning on Thursday, despite having been summoned by police to clarify those alleged links.

Emerging for a brief break from questioning at the National Police Intelligence office, Ba'asyir said the police had focused their questions on the Islamic teachings in which he was involved, his activities during the time he had spent in Malaysia and his current duties as a cleric.

"They asked me what I had been teaching ... the content of my courses, but have not asked me any questions about al-Qaeda as yet. I have said before, I have no connection with al-Qaeda," the chief of the Indonesian Mujahideen Council (MMI) told reporters on Thursday.

Ba'asyir's claim came as no surprise and clearly reflected the police's apparent lack of concern about the reported presence of alleged terrorist groups and individuals in Indonesia.

He has often said that he stressed crucial matters like "jihad and mati syahid (to die fighting to uphold Islam)" in his teachings to his students both in Malaysia and Indonesia, and greatly respected the al-Qaeda network and terrorist prime suspect Osama bin Laden for fighting to uphold the teachings of Islam.

Ba'asyir was detained by Malaysian police last month, along with 12 other militants, for allegedly trying to establish an Islamic government and having ties to a suspect of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington.

He soon returned to Indonesia after Malaysian police reportedly found no evidence against him.

Flanked by bodyguards on Thursday, Ba'asyir and his army of lawyers appeared briefly before waiting reporters at the National Police Headquarters before being escorted by police for questioning, which began at about 9:30 a.m.

After a break, the police resumed questioning him at 2:30 p.m.

Having once been jailed here for setting up a paramilitary force to fight for an Islamic nation and later spending years reportedly teaching in Malaysia, Ba'asyir is suspected by Indonesia's neighboring countries of being a leader of the al- Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah network.

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said on Thursday the government would continue its attempt to prevent foreign terrorist groups from entering the country via a series of cooperative measures with neighboring countries.

He denied speculation that the move was being taken after increasing pressure from the United States.

"We exchange intelligence information and monitor weapons- smuggling with authorities in Malaysia and the Philippines," Hassan said, following a hearing with House Commission I for international affairs here.

He emphasized that Indonesia had worked on efforts to combat terrorism long before the Sept. 11 attacks in Washington and New York.

"We have long had the mechanism to deal with cross-border terrorism and crimes, especially weapons-smuggling," he said.

Concerning speculation that groups or individuals linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist network were allegedly present in Indonesia, Hassan simply said that concrete results had still to be produced from an investigation conducted by authorities.

On possible links between Ba'asyir and suspected militants, teachers at an Islamic boarding school which Ba'asyir had founded in Surakarta, he said that an Indonesian, arrested for suspected links to al-Qaeda in the Philippines, had studied and graduated from the school.

The Philippines police earlier said that Fathur Rohman al- Ghozi, 30, had been an explosives expert with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a Muslim separatist group that has since started talks with Manila.

On Fathur, Hassan said that the Indonesian government would respect the law of Indonesia's neighboring countries, including those of the Philippines.

Fathur is of Indonesian origin, but carries at least five passports, including those from Indonesia and the Philippines, and has five different aliases.

Hassan confirmed the matter of the five passports, saying that three had been issued by Philippines authorities.

"The latest passport was issued by Indonesian authorities last year," said Hassan, adding that Fathur had entered the Philippines in 1996.

He added that the government had already requested Philippines authorities to allow Indonesia to send a representative to accompany Fathur and give him legal advice.