The Jakarta Post, 4/12/2004 4:03:09 PM
Bid to link Bali bombing to Ba'asyir could spark conflict:
Supporter
JAKARTA (AFP): A supporter of jailed Indonesian Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir
said Monday that attempts to link Ba'asyir to the Bali bombings could spark conflict
in the country.
If police charge Ba'asyir with the Bali attack there would be "anger within the Muslim
community which could lead to conflicts," said Fauzan Al Anshori, a spokesman for
Ba'asyir's Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI).
Anshori was speaking to reporters after he and a score of other supporters met the
cleric at Jakarta's Salemba prison. Ba'asyir, 65, is scheduled to be freed on April 30
after serving a sentence for immigration offences.
An appeal court overturned Bashir's original conviction for involvement with the
Al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group. However foreign governments
remain convinced that Ba'asyir led JI and have expressed concern at his imminent
release.
Last week police said they would use testimony and statements from witnesses and
suspects detained in the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore to prove whether Bashir
was involved in the Bali bombings and other terrorist acts.
"If the government tries to put ustadz (teacher) Ba'asyir back in court -- especially if
it's about the Bali bombing -- then Megawati and this government are clearly a lackey
of the United States," said Anshori.
"If this government intends to protects its citizens, it should consider his case as
closed and it should not be tinkered with," he said.
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