U.S. considers RI access to Hambali

U.S. considers RI access to Hambali

JAKARTA: The United States is seriously considering whether to grant Indonesian investigators access to a key terror suspect known as Hambali who was arrested in Thailand last year, the U.S. ambassador said Wednesday.

"We are well aware of Indonesia's desire to have physical access to him," Ralph Boyce told a group of Indonesians gathered at the U.S. Embassy to listen to President George W. Bush's State of the Union address.

"We will continue to consider the request for access very seriously," Boyce said.

Bush mentioned Hambali in his address, listing the Indonesian suspect's arrest as a victory in the U.S.-led war on terror.

Before he was arrested in Thailand in August, Hambali had been identified as the alleged operations chief of Jamaah Islamiyah, the al-Qaeda linked terror group blamed for a series of bombings in Indonesia, including the Oct. 12, 2002 nightclub blasts in Bali that killed 202 people.

The United States is holding Hambali and Indonesia has repeatedly asked to see him, so far to no avail.

Indonesian investigators told the Associated Press that Hambali, whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin, has been replaced by a new operations chief, an Indonesian militant known as Zulkarnaen. --AP