U.S. advised to give RI access to Hambali
U.S. advised to give RI access to Hambali
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The U.S. government has been asked to give Indonesia much-needed
access to alleged terrorist Hambali, in order to diminish the
skepticism prevailing among the Muslim community here concerning
the existence of the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI).
"If the U.S. government keeps denying Indonesia access to
interrogate Hambali, the Muslim community here will doubt whether
terrorism is a real threat or just a fabrication against Islam,"
Muslim scholar Muslim Abdurrahman told a discussion hosted by the
International Center for Islamic and Pluralism on Friday.
Another observer, Sidney Jones, agreed with Abdurrahman,
saying access to Hambali would help subdue the growing suspicion
of U.S. purposes in its war against terrorism.
"I don't understand why they are doing that, I think it's a
very shortsighted thing to do," Jones told reporters. "It doesn't
make sense. I wonder whether they want to do the interrogation by
themselves or Hambali is in a so very poor condition that they
don't want anybody to see him."
Jones has conducted a series of studies on JI and terrorism in
the country.
In mid-August, Hambali, the alleged top Southeast Asia
operative of the JI, was arrested by Thai and U.S. security
officers in the city of Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok. He is
currently in U.S. custody at an undisclosed place. Quoting a
source, Time magazine reported that Hambali was being held on
Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean.
The Indonesian government has repeatedly asked for direct
access to Hambali, a native of the West Java town of Cianjur.
U.S. President George W. Bush recently maintained that his
administration would keep Hambali in its custody but would share
all information on the terrorist suspect with Indonesia.
Bush is scheduled to visit Indonesia on Oct. 22 and will hold
talks with President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Abdurrahman urged the U.S. do whatever it could to defuse
skepticism among Indonesian Muslims in its antiterrorism drive.
"They manage to convince our people and the fight against
terrorism will grow stronger, and outsiders will also see that
Muslims in Indonesia are not synonymous with terrorists," he
said.
He said skepticism of the U.S. antiterrorism move prevailed
among Indonesian Muslims because they saw that Washington adopted
a double standard in dealing with the Muslim world. He was
referring to the U.S. failure to take strict measures against
Israel in the Palestine issue.