ABC AUSTRALIA, 21/09/2002 10:27:17
Indonesian cleric denies terrorist links
An Indonesian Muslim cleric has accused the United States of being anti-Islamic.
Abu Bakar Bashir says the United States has launched a grand strategy to hinder the
Islamic struggle.
He's also denying reports he has links to an Arab arrested in Indonesia in June, who
was allegedly a senior al Qaeda operative in Southeast Asia.
Omar al-Faruq, who has since been handed over to U.S. authorities, recently revealed
plans to hit American targets in the region around the anniversary of the September
11 attacks on the United States, along with a failed plot to assassinate President
Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Time magazine this week quoted a Central Intelligence Agency report that al-Faruq
had contact with Mr Bashir.
Earlier this year, officials in Singapore and Malaysia accused Mr Bashir of being a
key leader of a regional terror network called Jemaah Islamia.
Mr Bashir has lauded al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden as a "true Islamic warrior", but
insists he is not an al Qaeda member.
Bashir was jailed in 1979 in Indonesia for several years for trying to set up an Islamic
state.
21/09/2002 10:27:17 | ABC Radio Australia News
© 2001 Australian Broadcasting Corporation |
