The Jakarta Post, 10/2/2002 7:10:10 PM
Time magazine says its story is good journalism product
JAKARTA (JP): Time magazine, threatened with a lawsuit over an article linking Abu
Bakar Ba'asyir, an Indonesian Muslim cleric, to an alleged terrorist, has defended the
integrity of its reporting.
Ba'asyir, accused by neighboring countries of involvement in regional terrorism, had
lodged a complaint with police on Tuesday, alleging U.S.-based Time had defamed
him.
Lawyers for Abu Bakar, who has consistently denied having any terrorism ties, said,
after making the complaint at the National Police Headquarters, that they would also
file a civil suit against the magazine in a Jakarta court next week.
But, in a written statement received by Reuters on Wednesday, Time spokesman Ty
Trippet said: "Time's story is the product of very good journalism and is consistent
with reporting on the same subject by the magazine and by others."
At issue is a Time magazine article that ran two weeks ago and quoted a CIA report
as linking Abu Bakar to an Arab, Omar al-Faruq, whom the CIA report said had
allegedly confessed to plotting terror attacks on U.S. embassies in Southeast Asia.
"We have filed a complaint against Time magazine which accused Abu Bakar Bashir
of being involved in terrorist activity," lawyer Mahendradatta told reporters. "This is a
false statement by Time, which defames Abu Bakar Ba'asyir," he added.
Mahendradatta took particular issue with part of the Time story that quoted al-Faruq
as saying Bashir was behind a bomb attack on Jakarta's biggest mosque in 1999 and
then blamed Christians, in the world's most populous Muslim nation, for the act.
"Abu Bakar Ba'asyir is a preacher and religious teacher. Would he be capable of such
evil? Blowing up a mosque? That is clearly nonsense," Mahendradatta said.
Al-Faruq was handed over to U.S. authorities after being arrested in Indonesia in June.
Time, quoting the CIA report, said al-Faruq had confessed to being an al-Qaeda's
senior member in Southeast Asia. However, Abu Bakar has denied knowing al-Faruq,
or having terror ties.
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