Bayshir, on his way out of hospital, into police custody

By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent

KOTA, Indonesia, November 2 (IslamOnline) - Mujahideen movements, grouped under the Indonesian Mujahideen Council (MMI) headed by arrested leader Abu Bakar Bayshir, insisted Saturday, November 2, that the Bali bombing was the work of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), IslamOnline reported from Kota.

Following the October 12 bombing in Bali, theories are still running wild on who were behind the Bali mystery, with many Indonesians convinced the U.S. government agency, the CIA, in collusion with elements of the Indonesian army, are responsible for the blast.

To many Indonesians, the al-Qaeda network, associated with Osama bin Laden, is almost out of the picture as many do not believe it would carry out such a bombing.

Bayshir’s group, the MMI, is not also considered by Indonesian Muslims as a suspect on the list, which surprisingly ends short with the CIA, Umar Al Faruq and the Tentera National Indonesia (TNI), despite denial from all these parties.

"Al Faruq broke his silence, in the most incredible manner, when he said he knew who financed the Bali bombing and who was responsible for it, before the bombing took place.

"At this moment, he was in the CIA office in Washington and yet he did not say anything about the bombing before it happened," Sheikh Abdullah Ahmad, a close friend of Bayshir said.

With the Bali incident, it is the U.S. and the Indonesian military that made gains in terms of influence and control over the decisions taken by the Indonesian government in the boming aftermath, according to the Sheikh, who is a school friend of Bayshir and who would put his hand in fire to prove his faith in the aging 64 year old Islamic leader, now in police custody in Jakarta.

According the the MMI, Al Faruq, on whom the police based their investigations before proceeding with the arrest of Bayshir, is definitely a CIA recruit who tried to infiltrate the MMI.

"He was in Bali before his arrest. Those who met him told us he was seen with maps of regions of Indonesia, such a Surabaya," the Sheikh added.

After the Bali incident, the U.S. pressured the Indonesian government to arrest Bayshir as a conclusion to the blast.

The MMI leader was arrested on the accusation that he participated in the Church bombings in 2000.

MMI sources told IslamOnline that there were now attempts to link Bayshir and the MMI to the Bali bombing, that is why the police did not come forward with the alleged proof they have against Bayshir.

The U.S. also pressed the Indonesian government to allow it to have a troops base in Indonesia, the Sheikh said during the Interview with IslamOnline.

The U.S. also wishes to have a hold in countries like Malaysia and Brunei and the Bali bombing was a warning that this could happen to any of the countries in the South East Asian region, IslamOnline was told.

Malaysia promptly rejected the idea that U.S. troops would be allowed on its soil, with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad last week rejecting any such ideas.

Foreign troops or armed personnels will not be allowed too in the new anti-terror academy to be set up in Kuala Lumpur, news reports said Wednesday, October 30.

In Jakarta, observers said it was impossible for the Mujahideen to have carried the Bali attack for the simple reason that the backlash agaisnt Muslims would have been obvious.

"Indonesia was said to be a safe heaven for the radicals and extremists, why would they destroy their own safe place and face the backlash from the international community and the Indonesian government?" This was the major comment dismissing the Bali blast as the work of locals.

The Sheikh goes further in his accusations against Al Faruq, the Kuwaiti citizen who bought Indonesian identity papers, saying that Faruq surely knows which place is next in the bombing spree that has recenty taken place in South East Asia.

"According to our information, he worked very closely with the CIA in Singapore, Malaysia and Jakarta.

"The CIA, as you know, is very strong in Singapore where they have an intelligence base.

"Faruq visited these countries too and we have indications that places like Hard Rock cafe and other major entertainment centers in Jakarta, Manila and even Brunei are not safe from CIA plots," Sheikh Ahmad said.

The conspiracy against Bayshir thickened Friday, November 1, when a top ranking police chief said the leader was arrested on evidence the police had well before an investigation team visited Faruq in Washinton two weeks ago.

"Why now the police insist Faruq was not important in their decision to arrest Bayshir? They want to clear the suspicions.

In Indonesia, we are used to confessions before arrests, to criminals escaping in the court room, the Bayshir episode is one where justice and fairness is trampled to achieve political aims," the Sheikh told IslamOnline.

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