ABC AUSTRALIA, 18/09/2002 14:03:54
Senior terrorist captured in Indonesia
An Indonesian minister has confirmed that an alleged al Qaeda operative currently
detained by U-S officials in Afghanistan, was arrested in Indonesia.
Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs, Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono, says Omar al-Faruq, who is allegedly al-Qaeda's senior representative in
Southeast Asia, was arrested by Indonesian intelligence agents in June.
Mr Yudhoyono says since al-Faruq was not an Indonesian citizen, he was handed
over to the international authorities for further legal process.
The minister says Jakarta is currently working on intelligence reports provided by
other countries, including the United States.
A plot to kill Indonesia's President
The U-S embassy in Jakarta and its consulate in Surabaya reopened on Monday after
a six-day shutdown which ambassador Ralph Boyce linked to a terrorist threat from al
Qaeda.
America's Time magazine reports that al-Faruq has admitted to plotting to kill
Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri in May 1999 and in August 2001.
It says he has also had admitted in a CIA report that he was the brains behind the
Christmas 2000 bombings of churches in nine Indonesian cities which killed 18 people
and injured more than 100.
18/09/2002 14:03:54 | ABC Radio Australia News
© 2001 Australian Broadcasting Corporation |
