Police doctors examine terror suspect Ba'asyir

Police doctors examine terror suspect Ba'asyir

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Doctors continued on Thursday their medical examination of
terrorist suspect Abu Bakar Ba'asyir to see when he will be fit
to face questioning.

For the first time, police physicians joined the examination
at the Muhammadiyah Hospital in the Central Java town of
Surakarta, where Ba'asyir has been receiving treatment since last
Friday.

The doctors agreed that the Muslim cleric could leave hospital
in two to three days if his condition continued to improve.

One of Ba'asyir's lawyers, Joko Sutrisno Widodo, said his
client could now stand and walk slowly around his bed but was
still connected to an oxygen nasal tube and an intravenous drip.

"The doctors said they would try to take out the oxygen tube
tomorrow," he told AFP. "His communicative abilities are
improving but are still poor."

Singapore and Malaysia have accused the 64-year-old of being
the spiritual leader of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), an organization
that 45 countries, including the United States, Australia and
Indonesia, have listed as a terrorist group.

Ba'asyir has been implicated in several bomb attacks across
the country and a plot to assassinate Megawati Soekarnoputri, the
current president. The accusations were based on an account given
by Omar al-Faruq, an al-Qaeda operative in Southeast Asia who is
now in the custody of U.S. authorities and who claims to know
Ba'asyir well. Ba'asyir has denied the claim.

Police, who failed to question Ba'asyir after he collapsed
last Friday, plan to fly the Muslim cleric to Jakarta for
questioning.

But Irfan Suhariyadi Awwas, deputy chairman of the Indonesian
Mujahidin Council (MMI), which is led by Ba'asyir, suggested that
his mentor be allowed to see his home and boarding school before
being whisked off to Jakarta.

"Even if the visit is only very short, it would help calm down
the students," Irfan said as quoted by Antara.

MMI chairman Ba'asyir lives in Ngruki, Surakarta, Central Java
province, where he also heads an Islamic boarding school.

Irfan said taking Ba'asyir directly into police custody in
Jakarta after being discharged from the hospital might encourage
his students to commit "emotional acts".

"As such, I think it would be wise for the police to allow
Ba'asyir to go home for a while to see his family and students,"
he said.