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| Southeast Asia |
| Bashir 'Too Sick' For Questioning, Meets Mouthpieces... |
| 2002-10-25 |
| Police doctors say suspected terrorist Abu Bakar Bashir is still too ill to be questioned about his alleged involvement in bombings and other plots. "Although his health is improving, doctors conclude that he is still sick," Budiono, head of a police medical team, was quoted as saying by Reuters on Thursday. "No, no! Too sick! Much too sick! Ooooh! My head!" "Thought it was your heart?" "That, too!" "The Criminal Code of Conduct stipulates one cannot be questioned in an ill condition," he said. "Nope. Not one little question. None. Not even a 'how are you?'" Bashir is the alleged spiritual leader of the militant Jemaah Islamiah group, which has been linked to Al-Qaeda and was on Wednesday declared a terrorist organization by the United Nations. The cleric, who officially heads the Indonesian Mujahidin Council, denies any involvement in terrorism or links to Jemaah Islamiyah and Al-Qaeda. "Me? A terrorist? I could have you killed for saying that!" He was hospitalized in the Central Java city of Solo on October 18 after suffering exhaustion, which was apparently caused by respiratory and heart problems. Or faking it... Police want to question Bashir over a series of church bombings that killed 18 people on Christmas Eve 2000, as well as his alleged role in a mosque bombing and plots to assassinate President Megawati Sukarnoputri when she was vice president. Investigators are yet to directly link Bashir to the October 12 Bali bombings that killed more than 190 people. But an Al-Qaeda operative detained in the US, Omar al-Faruq, has reportedly said bin Laden provided Bashir with funds to buy the explosives used to make the Bali bombs. Police say that once Bashir recovers, he will either be sent to a Jakarta jail or placed under house arrest at his Islamic boarding school in Solo. Any guesses as to which one it'll be? |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 I hope he will eventually suffer from acute lead poisoning. |
| Posted by: Raj 2002-10-26 07:52:39 |