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Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar
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By
Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent
KUALA
LUMPUR, October 18 (IslamOnline) - Abu Bakar Basyir, the Muslim cleric
high on the list of suspects of the USA Singapore and Malaysia for
terrorism activities, is ready to surrender to Indonesian police after
being named as a suspect in a series of deadly church bombings across
Indonesia in 2000, news reports said on Friday, October 18.
Considered
the spiritual leader of the Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI)
based in Singapore, he is also linked to the Bali bombing, another
unconfirmed report said.
A
report on Wednesday in several Indonesian newspapers revealed that the
U.S. was prepared to name Basyir as a major terror suspect, higher on
the list of international suspects.
Indonesia
has come under enormous international pressure in recent days to arrest
Bashir and take steps against the JI. The United States and other
countries have called on Indonesian authorities to arrest Bashir.
Basyir
challenged the Indonesian and U.S. government to provide proof of his
involvement in the year 2000 church bombings and asked the local
authorities on whose side they were, Antara said in an earlier report.
The
bombings, in Jakarta and nine other cities and towns, killed 19 people
and injured dozens.
On
Thursday, President Megawati Sukarnoputri won critical parliamentary
support for an emergency anti-terror decree which calls for death
penalty for terrorists, indicating that Megawati has won one battle in
the ‘war against terror.”
In
an earlier report, a close friend of Basyir informed IslamOnline by
phone that the Islamic fundamentalist leader was high on the list of
Muslim leaders targeted for arrest by the Indonesian government after
the Bali blast.
The
leader of the Islamic Defender Front (FPI), Habib Rizieq and the former
leader of the disbanded Jihad Force Chief, Jafar Umar Thalib are the
other Islamic leaders said to face imminent arrest in Indonesia.
Rizieq
was arrested on Thursday on charges that he committed acts of vandalism
and agitating people. Chances are Thalib would not be arrested. He is
still battling charges of his involvement in the Maluku racial riots
between Muslims and Christians and currently out on bail.
The
Jakarta Police spokesperson High Commissioner Anton Bachrul Alam said
Rizieq was proven to have incited his people to damage places of
entertainment in Jakarta recently.
The
FPI has been urged to follow the example of the Jihad Force which
liquided itself on Wednesday, with its members going back to their own
professions.
Thalib
said the Jihad Force was disbanded because too many of its members gave
interviews to lady journalists in the recent past, causing a certain
hilarity in press rooms in Jakarta, IslamOnline was told.
Abu
Bakar Bashir, who runs the Al-Mukmin school in central Java will be
summoned to appear for questioning this Saturday, Tempo magazine
reported on Friday.
The
JI is suspected of involvement in bombings over the weekend on the
resort island of Bali that left at least 188 dead and hundreds injured.
However Basyir has consistantly rejected allegations that he was a
member of the JI or of the Malaysian Militant Movemet (KMM).
A
report in Tempo indicated that Basyir was named a suspect after
investigators returned from questioning Omar Al-Faruq, an alleged al-Qaeda
operative arrested in Indonesia in June and handed over to the U.S.
Al-Faruq,
according to Tempo has confirmed a leaked CIA report published by Time
magazine last September that he was Al Qaeda’s senior representative
for Southeast Asia, planned the assassination on Indonesian President
Megawati Soekarnoputri, masterminded the bombing on Indonesian churches
during Christmas 2000 and also on Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta.
There
are fears in Indonesia that Basyir’s eventual arrest might cause a
backlash by local Islamic elements.
However,
sources close to Basyir told IslamOnline that Islamic elements in
Indonesia will allow the police to follow its course since they believe
there is no proof of Basyir involvement in any acts of terror.
“Basyir
is guilty of having met Osama Bin Laden in the early 1980’s at the
height of the war against Russian invasion of Afghanistan, whether he
was given funding or arms by the Saudi millionaire is another
question,” the Basyir camp told IslamOnline on Friday.
“One
has to look at the lifestyle of Basyir, the school he runs. He leads a
normal and very simple life and is not a rich man. He spent most of his
life in exile in Malaysia,” Basyir’s friend, who refused to have his
name published, said on the phone to IslamOnline.
He
added that there will be more arrests of Islamic figures in Indonesia in
the coming, predicting a collapse of the Megawati regime in the process.
“The
government is not stable anymore, anti-Muslim elements who control local
businesses are putting enormous pressure on Megawati to take severe
steps against Muslim elements.
“The
government is split in two factions, the cabinet too is split in many
factions. This regime has a matter of weeks before it collapses,”
Basyir’s friend told IslamOnline.
He
also said that Basyir could be sent to the U.S. as he is high on the
U.S. list of suspected international terrorists, a list that has created
great anger in Indonesia in the past few days.
