The Age [Australia], March 7 2003
Bashir escapes Bali charges
By Mark Forbes, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Canberra
The alleged leader of the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist group, Abu Bakar Bashir, will not
be charged over the Bali bombings despite being implicated by some of those
involved, Indonesian police chief General Da' Bachtiar has confirmed.
Although the radical cleric would face charges over other terrorist attacks, there was
not enough direct evidence to charge him over the Bali bombings at this stage,
General Bachtiar said in Canberra yesterday. Last month Indonesian police said they
expected Bashir would be charged over the blasts.
General Bachtiar also revealed that Australian authorities had not asked him to
pursue alleged JI leaders who fled to Indonesia from Perth after the Bali attacks. As a
result, the suspects had not been tracked down, he said.
Among those who fled before ASIO and police raids on his home was Abul Rahman
Ayub, who said in court documents that he was sent from Malaysia by Bashir to head
the Australian arm of JI.
General Bachtiar said Indonesia would consider positively any Australian Federal
Police request to pursue suspects.
JI had targeted Australia in the past, according to documents seized by investigators,
he said. However, if police continued to arrest more members of JI it should remove
the threat they posed to the region.
General Bachtiar denied claims from Papuan independence leaders that radical
Islamic militants, Laskar Jihad, were active in the Indonesian province. The group has
alleged links to al-Qaeda.
He also said he hoped there would not be extensive violence or terrorist action in
Indonesia in the event of a US-led invasion of Iraq, but police were preparing for
possible unrest.
The Bali bombing investigation had been a great experience in the relationship
between the Australian and Indonesian police, he said. "In the future we need more
co-operation, not only in the area of terrorism, but also in transnational crime," he
said.
Federal police Commissioner Mick Keelty said that, at Indonesia's instigation,
Australia would join an ASEAN police taskforce to continue the hunt for the Bali
bombers and to help fight terrorism in the region.
Mr Keelty, speaking before talks with General Bachtiar in Canberra, said federal
police had gone to Jakarta to advise the Indonesians on what Australia could offer.
"There are still suspects outstanding from the Bali bombings and there's been other
bombings in the Philippines this week," Mr Keelty said.
"There are connections between some of those groups in the region and obviously one
of the things that General Bachtiar and I will be talking about is trying first and
foremost to deal with the people responsible for the Bali bombings, and then look at
the broader issue of terrorism in our region."
Copyright © 2002 The Age Company Ltd
|