Police reluctant to arrest Ba'asyir
Police reluctant to arrest Ba'asyir
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Despite suspected Indonesian terrorists detained in Malaysia
saying that Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI) Chief Abu Bakar
Ba'asyir once led an organization believed to have links to
international terrorist networks, police here are likely to
maintain their soft stance on the Muslim cleric.
"We had once questioned Ba'asyir over the issues. Should we
need to question him for the sake of further investigations, we
will do it," National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said after
attending a coordinating meeting on political and security
affairs here on Friday.
Da'i's statement contradicted earlier statements by police
that Indonesians detained in Malaysia had failed to provide solid
evidence to prove that Ba'asyir was a terrorist leader as
suspected by Malaysia and Singapore.
He said the police team sent to Malaysia to interview the four
detained Indonesians found out that Ba'asyir was supposed "to
replace the leader of a Malaysian-based organization linked to
international terrorists after the latter passed away."
"The four Indonesians detained in Malaysia admitted to us (the
police team) that they knew both Ba'asyir and Hambali. From them,
we also learned that Ba'asyir was slated to replace a charismatic
Malaysian as leader of an organization there," Da'i continued.
He refused to say if the Malaysian-based organization was
Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM), but said the organization
Ba'asyir was supposed to head had been active in Malaysia only.
According to Da'i, the four Indonesians also admitted that
they were once under the supervision of Hambali, who has been on
the police's wanted list for his alleged involvement in bomb
attacks on a number of churches in Jakarta in December, 2000.
The international community has long criticized Indonesia for
its reluctance to take stern action against hardline groups here
even though many countries, including Singapore, Malaysia and the
U.S., have delivered intelligent evidence that some of these
groups have been infiltrated by international terrorist network
al-Qaeda.
Al-Qaeda is led by Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade
Center in the U.S.
Police authorities have already questioned Ba'asyir on
suspicion that his organization, MMI, which is based in
Surakarta, Central Java, was linked to al-Qaeda. No evidence
sufficient to detain him was found.
Malaysia and Singapore have labeled Ba'asyir a terrorist
leader after the countries' police arrested tens of Indonesian
terrorist suspects belonging to hardline groups Jemaah Islamiyah
and KMM.
Earlier, the police sent a team led by the Police detectives'
chief. Insp. Gen. Engkesman Hilep which managed to interview
several Indonesians detained in Malaysia. The team, however,
failed to meet any Jemaah Islamiyah members in Singapore due to
technical matters.
Police later on said that "both Ba'asyir and his organization
have no link to Al Qaeda."
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Despite suspected Indonesian terrorists detained in Malaysia
saying that Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI) Chief Abu Bakar
Ba'asyir once led an organization believed to have links to
international terrorist networks, police here are likely to
maintain their soft stance on the Muslim cleric.
"We had once questioned Ba'asyir over the issues. Should we
need to question him for the sake of further investigations, we
will do it," National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said after
attending a coordinating meeting on political and security
affairs here on Friday.
Da'i's statement contradicted earlier statements by police
that Indonesians detained in Malaysia had failed to provide solid
evidence to prove that Ba'asyir was a terrorist leader as
suspected by Malaysia and Singapore.
He said the police team sent to Malaysia to interview the four
detained Indonesians found out that Ba'asyir was supposed "to
replace the leader of a Malaysian-based organization linked to
international terrorists after the latter passed away."
"The four Indonesians detained in Malaysia admitted to us (the
police team) that they knew both Ba'asyir and Hambali. From them,
we also learned that Ba'asyir was slated to replace a charismatic
Malaysian as leader of an organization there," Da'i continued.
He refused to say if the Malaysian-based organization was
Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM), but said the organization
Ba'asyir was supposed to head had been active in Malaysia only.
According to Da'i, the four Indonesians also admitted that
they were once under the supervision of Hambali, who has been on
the police's wanted list for his alleged involvement in bomb
attacks on a number of churches in Jakarta in December, 2000.
The international community has long criticized Indonesia for
its reluctance to take stern action against hardline groups here
even though many countries, including Singapore, Malaysia and the
U.S., have delivered intelligent evidence that some of these
groups have been infiltrated by international terrorist network
al-Qaeda.
Al-Qaeda is led by Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade
Center in the U.S.
Police authorities have already questioned Ba'asyir on
suspicion that his organization, MMI, which is based in
Surakarta, Central Java, was linked to al-Qaeda. No evidence
sufficient to detain him was found.
Malaysia and Singapore have labeled Ba'asyir a terrorist
leader after the countries' police arrested tens of Indonesian
terrorist suspects belonging to hardline groups Jemaah Islamiyah
and KMM.
Earlier, the police sent a team led by the Police detectives'
chief. Insp. Gen. Engkesman Hilep which managed to interview
several Indonesians detained in Malaysia. The team, however,
failed to meet any Jemaah Islamiyah members in Singapore due to
technical matters.
Police later on said that "both Ba'asyir and his organization
have no link to Al Qaeda."