Indonesia is ready to investigate militant Muslim preacher Abu Bakar Bashir again if new evidence is found about any involvement in terror activities, the Foreign Minister said on Friday. The accused spiritual leader of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah network is expected to walk next month from a Jakarta jail where he is serving time on immigration offences, after the Supreme Court announced this week it had halved his sentence.
| Are they going to deport him? |
Hassan Wirajuda told a news conference he was unaware of any immediate plan to investigate the 65-year-old Bashir again.
| ... so don't hold your breath. |
``But logically if the government, in this case the legal apparatus, has evidence about the involvement of anyone including Abu Bakar Bashir in terrorist acts, obviously it will be acted on,’’ Wirajuda said.
| I don't expect there'll be any, given Hamzah Haz' liking for Abu and his movement. The Indons did a great job of rounding up the Bad Guys, but when the fix is put in for the chief Bad Guy the job's not done. Every time Dr. Fu Manchu got away, you knew there was going to be another book. |
Security experts have said a key factor in going after Bashir again could be getting information from another radical Indonesian preacher called Hambali, who is in U.S. custody. Wirajuda said the United States had passed on intelligence information from Hambali, but this could not be used to arrest anyone or initiate court proceedings in Indonesia under current laws. He demanded that Indonesia be allowed direct access to one of the world’s most dangerous militants. ``We demand to be given not just access to information, but direct access to that terrorist suspect himself,’’ Wirajuda said.
| Probably that's something that can be done. But it probably involves taking him off giggle juice for the interview, so there's no telling what he'd say... |
In sharp comments on Wednesday, visiting U.S. Secretary for Homeland Security Tom Ridge accused Bashir of being deeply involved in planning and executing terrorist acts. Ridge also said he could give Indonesia no timeframe for when it would win direct access to Hambali, whom Indonesian police have accused of funding the Bali attacks. |