Abu Bakr

By Kazi Mahmood, IOL South East Asia correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR, December 1 (IslamOnline) - Influential groups behind the Indonesian Mujahideen Council (MMI) are pressing for the immediate release of its chairman Abu Bakar Basyir, the Islamic leader currently under arrest in Jakarta.

On the other hand, lawyers of the Bali mastermind Imam Samudra said on Sunday, December 1, that Basyir is definitely not linked to the church bombings or the Bali blast that killed around 200 people on October 12.

Sources close to Basyir said the suspect’s lawyers told them that Samudra did not mention other masterminds or associates for the Bali bombing other than himself.

The lawyers confirmed Samudra admitted to having carried the other bombings in other parts of Indonesia in 2000 on his own or by his group which he said did not comprise Abu Bakar Basyir.

Associates of Basyir said on Sunday the revelation by Samudra lawyers is a blow to the Indonesian government and to the United States, adding that it was clear now that the U.S. was aggressively attacking the foundations of Islam to achieve some hidden agendas.

Monteza Abdul Rafi, who sits on the board of one of the member organizations that falls under the Indonesian Mujahideen Council (MMI), said the Indonesian government was now in a dangerous situation.

“The government can’t continue to be under the yoke of the U.S. and the Jews after the revelations made by Samudra, it is clear that Basyir has nothing to do with the bombings.

"The MMI is pressing for the immediate release of Basyir and the restoration of his civil rights as well as of his passport, this case should be over by now," he said.

Samudra’s lawyers, a team of three Muslim lawyers comprising Made Rahman Marasabessy, Achmad Michdan and Qadar Faisal, were present when Samudra signed his final statements in which he clearly admitted to having carried out other bombings in other parts of Indonesia.

Rafi said he had information that members of the Indonesian government were deeply divided on the fate of Basyir, with the attacks against the Islamic leader coming from pro-Megawati Sukarnoputri ministers.

Minister of Defense, Matori Abdul Majid is the only minister to have publicly accused Basyir of being the leader of the JI and of having carried out the bombings in the country.

Matori was minister under the reign of Abdul Rahman Wahid before he crossed over to join Megawati after the latter had toppled Wahid from power in July 2000.

His views run contrary to many other members of the Indonesian cabinet, who prefer to let the police finish its investigations before taking positions, IslamOnline was told.

The Indonesian government will conduct a high level meeting with police, military and intelligence officers before Eid-ul-Fitri on Friday, December 6, to take note of the new facts surrounding the Bali case and the statements by Samudra.

Muslim parties that forms part of a coalition with the party of President Megawati Sukarnoputri, the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI-P), may also press for the release of Basyir or a review of his prolonged detention, another source told IslamOnline.

"In the case reports there is no link between my client and Ba'asyir. The content is basically the same with what the police said," Faisal said as quoted by detik.com news portal.

Earlier the lawyers handling Basyir’s case accused the police of having forced Samudra to sign statements in which he allegedly said Basyir was involved in the Church bombings.

Basyir is currently in detention at police headquarters in Jakarta for his alleged role in the Christmas bombings in 2000 and a reported assassination attempt of then Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

The police in Jakarta said they could not comment any further on the reports that Samudra whose real name is Abdul Aziz, signed statements that did not include the names of any other suspected Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leaders.

Police in Indonesia is still struggling to bring hard evidence of their accusations against Basyir, failing to deal a severe blow to the Mujahideen leader.

Police officials said however they believed the Bali bombing was linked to other bombings in Indonesia since 1999.

The Indonesian government altogether has lost control of the situation surrounding Basyir, facing greater divide in the cabinet and within the Parliament and the Legislative Assembly.

The military is also divided on the issue, fearing a backlash against the regime of Megawati, which could bring hard line or "fundamental" Muslim parties to gain popularity in the majority Muslim country.

"They were counting on Samudra to state that Basyir condoned the operations but it did not happen.

"Now the entire case against the Islamic leader is based on the statements by Umar Al-Faruq," Rafi who lives in Solo said.

Al-Faruq is considered to be a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recruit who infiltrated some Mujahideen groups in a bid to find evidence of Basyir’s involvement in terrorist activities.

Al-Faruq, who is a Kuwait national, admitted that he knew there will be a blast in Indonesia but blamed it on the Al-Qaeda of which he said he is the leading man in South East Asia. He was arrested in June this year and deported to the U.S.

He is currently living in the U.S., under the protection of the CIA," Rafi added, urging the Indonesian government to bring Al-Faruq back to face jail and punishment for his "fake allegations against a respected Muslim leader."  

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