Police deny U.S. intervention in Ba'asyir arrest

Abdul Khalik and A. Junaidi, Jakarta

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar rejected allegations that the arrest of Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir was made due to U.S. intervention, through its Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce.

"It's not a foreign intervention. I have met Boyce, but only discussed cooperation and assistance," Da'i told a hearing of the joint Commissions I and II for political, security and legal affairs on Wednesday.

He claimed the arrest was based on strong evidences of the alleged involvement of Ba'asyir in terrorist attacks, but refused to go into detail, arguing that it would affect the probe.

He complained Boyce's frequent statements on Ba'asyir, who has been accused of leading al-Queda-linked terrorist organization Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), had also hampered the police investigation.

Ba'asyir was released from Salemba Penitentiary on April 30 but was immediately rearrested. Before the rearrest, hundreds of the cleric's supporters clashed with police outside the prison.

Meanwhile, Boyce said the United States was pleased that Indonesian police had rearrested Ba'asyir, but Washington should not have to apologize for the controversy over its view of him.

"We welcome the decision by the police to requestion him and to take the action they did last week," Boyce was quoted by Reuters as saying on Wednesday.

"We do believe there are some concerns that still need to be addressed in terms of what his role has been vis-a-vis JI and some of the tragic events that happened here," he was quoted as saying.

In the weeks leading up to his arrest, public support grew for the 65-year-old cleric over accusations the United States, and Boyce in particular, was trying to interfere in Indonesia's internal affairs by having Ba'asyir kept behind bars.

Washington has accused Ba'asyir of deep involvement in terror. Boyce said the debate over Ba'asyir had been colored by the accusations of U.S. interference. He denied the accusations.

"In an interdependent world, in a global war on terror, where the U.S. clearly has a lead role in what is going on in that campaign, I think it's important we do express our views on how that war on terror is going," Boyce said.

Some analysts say going after Ba'asyir again poses a challenge to Indonesia, especially with sentiment for Washington so low due to the war in Iraq and other U.S. policies in the Middle East.

Police have said Ba'asyir would be questioned about attacks including the Bali blasts, in which 202 people were killed.

Previous charges against Ba'asyir of treason and of heading JI were dismissed or overturned. Ba'asyir denies links to terrorism.