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Indonesian police arrest Bashir on terror charges
 Abu Bakar Bashir, the Muslim cleric and 2002 Bali bombings suspect, has been arrested by Indonesian police for alleged involvement with terrorism. His lawyer, Muhammad Ali, said his client was taken in early today, allegedly for involvement with a new militant network in Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh.Police said Bashir, 71, was arrested by the Indonesian police anti-terrorist taskforce Detachment 88 while travelling from Ciamis in West Java, where he had been attending Koran recitals, to his home in Solo. Bashir is accused of involvement in an Islamic militant training camp uncovered by police in Aceh province in February, said counter-terrorism chief at the security ministry, Ansyaad Mbai. "He had been involved in terror network in Aceh. As we know, that terror group in Aceh is linked with Jemaah Islamiah and many other extremist groups in our country," Mbai told Agence France Presse. "One of the allegations is that he provided funding to the Aceh military training. It's one of many allegations weighed against him," he added. In the aftermath of the discovery of the training camp, police claimed to have killed 13 suspects, including the senior Jemaah Islamiah operative and Bali bomber Dulmatin, and arrested more than 60 others. Three members of Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid, a group established by Bashir after splitting from the Indonesian Mujahadeen Council two years ago, are already under arrest on suspicion of helping to finance the Aceh operation. Rumours have circulated for weeks that Bashir, a fiery preacher known for propagating hatred against foreigners, was next on the list. On Saturday, police arrested five suspects and seized high-explosive materials in separate anti-terror raids in several areas in West Java province. The target of the alleged terror plots was not immediately clear, but Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Saturday said police had foiled a terror plot against him as he visited the province. Wahyudin, the director of Bashir's Al Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Solo, told the Jakarta Globe today that the cleric's wife, Aisyah, might also have been taken into custody. Police were understood to be transporting Bashir to Jakarta and a police press conference was scheduled for this afternoon. Posted by: ryuge 2010-08-09 |
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