The Jakarta Post, 11/25/2003 3:19:51 PM
Ba'asyir barred by authorities from giving speech
JAKARTA (AP): Authorities barred jailed Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir from giving
a speech Tuesday in which he planned to accuse the United States, Christians and
Jews of destroying Islam.
Instead, the alleged spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror group sat passively
as a fellow cleric implored a few hundred prisoners to be good Muslims during the
Islamic feast of Eid-al-Fitr, which began Tuesday with early morning prayers.
Afterward, Ba'asyir told reporters Australia was behind the cancellation. He also
called on Indonesia to break-off relations with the United States and for Indonesians to
boycott American products.
"I call for the government as well as Muslim clerics around the country to break our
relations with the U.S. government because U.S. President George W. Bush is
allowing Jews to set the country's foreign policy, which includes waging war
againstIslam," he told reporters, after blessing a few dozen prisoners.
A spokesman for the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, KirkConingham, denied it had
anything to do with the cancellation.
"It's bizarre and ludicrous to suggest that we would have any interest in canceling his
speech or the capacity to do so," Coningham said.
Ba'asyir was sentenced in September to four years in jail for treason, but found not
guilty of the more serious charge of leading the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah.
The group has been blamed for a string of bombings dating back to 2000, including
the Bali blasts and the Aug. 5 bombing of the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta which
killed 12.
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