Paras Indonesia, August, 30 2006 @ 09:20 pm
Australia Miffed By Baasyir's Micro Nuke Claim
By: Roy Tupai
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar
Baasyir's claim that the US was responsible for the main blast in the October 2002
Bali bombings is "preposterous", but adds that Australia remains happy with the way
Indonesian authorities are handling him.
In an interview aired by Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on its Foreign
Correspondent program on Tuesday (29/8/06), Baasyir said he believed the US
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had detonated a micro-nuclear bomb in Bali in an
effort to discredit Islam.
It's not the first time that Baasyir has made such a claim. On October 18, 2002, less
than a week after the Bali bombings, he announced that Westerners and Jews had
masterminded the attacks, perhaps by hiring Indonesians to carry out the operation. "I
think the bomb was done by foreign intelligence, especially US intelligence. The
indications are Americans and Jews did it to justify the claims that have been made
so far that Indonesia is a terrorist haven. What they mean by terrorists is Muslims. So
to prove their theory they created the incident in Bali… It's possible Americans hired
Indonesians. My understanding is Americans hired Indonesians," he was quoted as
saying by The Sydney Morning Herald daily.
On August 21, 2006, on a visit to the East Java city of Malang, Baasyir said an
explosives expert had informed him that the main Bali blast, which hit the Sari Club in
the tourism hub of Kuta, was from a micro-nuclear device and could not possibly have
been made by the men convicted over the attacks.
"I obtained information from a bomb expert that the explosion that took place in Bali
some time ago was caused by a micro-nuclear device, not merely a homemade
bomb," he was quoted as saying by BBC Monitoring.
The explosions at the Sari Club and nearby Paddy's Irish Pub killed 202 people,
mostly foreign tourists, including 88 Australians. The attacks were perpetrated by
members of regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah. Baasyir, long accused of
being Jemaah Islamiyah's spiritual leader, was released from jail in June after serving
a 26-month sentence for conspiracy in the bombings. Three militants – Amrozi,
Mukhlas and Imam Samudra – have been sentenced to death over their key roles in
the blasts.
A few conspiracy theorists have posted claims on the internet that the Bali bombings
were the result of a CIA/Israeli micro-nuke. The main propagator of this conspiracy
theory was Joe Vialls, who also claimed the cataclysmic Indian Ocean tsunami of
December 26, 2004, was due to a thermonuclear explosion created by Washington
and Wall Street. Vialls died of a heart attack at his home in Western Australia in 2005
but a few crackpots, including Baasyir, continue to espouse his ludicrous theories.
Baasyir said Amrozi, Mukhlas and Samudra should not be executed because
although they plotted the bombings, the operation was "hijacked" by CIA agents who
planted a micro-nuclear bomb.
He insisted that Amrozi lacked the skills to help make the sophisticated device that
hit the Sari Club. "If anyone says it was a homemade bomb it's clear that that opinion
is from an idiot," said the cleric.
Amrozi, speaking at his trial in July 2003, also claimed the Sari Club blast might have
been caused by a mini nuclear device detonated by the US or Israel. Despite playing
down his own role, Amrozi defended the bombings, saying they had some positive
effects, such as helping to avoid the Balinese people to avoid being "enslaved" by
foreigners. He also said many places of worship in Bali had been nearly empty before
the bombings. "But, on the other hand, the places of sin, like the bars, clubs,
gambling venues, brothels and other sinful places for entertainment were always full,"
he was quoted as saying by The Age daily.
He denied that the chemicals he had prepared for the bomb had caused the explosion
at the Sari Club blast. "If the explosion was truly from the chemicals that I prepared, it
would not produce such a powerful explosion. Because of this, I do not disagree if
there are some experts who say that the explosion was caused by a mini nuclear
[device]," he said, adding "advanced countries like America, Israel and others" had
satellite devices that could have detonated an explosion.
Baasyir complained that the micro-nuke theory was yet to be investigated thoroughly
because of pressure from the US, which he accused of staging a cover-up by blaming
Amrozi. "The problem, though, is that the investigation was a manipulated process to
appease the US. The death sentence on Amrozi is unjust and an example of
oppression, and is not commensurate with the crime," he said.
Indonesian police, prosecutors and judges, who were responsible for Amrozi being
captured, charged and convicted, have denied they were pressured by the US.
The three death row bombers were due to have been executed on August 22, but the
executions have been postponed to allow the trio's lawyers to submit a request for a
final judicial review. The lawyers have said they will lodge the request after the Islamic
holiday of Lebaran, due to fall this year over October 24-27.
Commenting on Australia's latest travel advisory warning of the possibility of more
terror attacks in Indonesia, Baasyir claimed Australia itself would carry out such acts
of terrorism. "That's their way of operating and actually terrorism can't be separated
from them. That's why they confidently predict an attack will happen in September,
because at that time they will create an attack."
He said the increasing number of bombings in Indonesia over recent years was due
foreign intervention from the US and Australia.
Following Baasyir's release from jail, the Australian government reminded President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that under UN Security Council Resolution 1269 on
terrorism, the Indonesian government is obliged to subject Baasyir to a range of
international restrictions, including an assets freeze, restrictions on international travel
and access to arms.
In an interview with ABC Radio's AM program on Wednesday, Downer said his
government was happy with Indonesia's handling of Baasyir and doubted he would be
allowed to travel abroad.
"He certainly hasn't left Indonesia at all since he was released from jail. I would be
very surprised if the Indonesians allowed him to travel, bearing in mind that
Resolution. But… this issue is a sensitive one about Abu Bakar Baasyir in Indonesia.
The Indonesians don't choose to make public statements about measures they have
taken to deal with the issue of Abu Bakar Baasyir. But I can only put it to you this
way - 'cause we've had a lot of conversations with them about him - that we're happy
with the way the Indonesian government is approaching that issue."
Asked whether he was happy with what Baasyir was being allowed to say, Downer
replied: "Well, it's a free country; he can say what he likes. And, of course, some of
the comments that he made yesterday were fairly preposterous. I don't think anyone
would much believe anything he was saying, though, about CIA plots to blow up
nightclubs in Bali and so on. But look, yes, I am happy with the way the Indonesians
have handled it. Let me put it that way. I mean, it's a sensitive issue, I don't want to
disturb the way we've been handling this in the bilateral relationship, but I think they've
done a good job."
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