The Jakarta Post, October 18, 2002
Al-Faruq admits RI ties, Ba'asyir a suspect
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Police confirmed on Thursday the presence of al-Qaeda terrorist networks here
following the result of an investigation conducted by a team dispatched to the U.S. to
question Omar al-Faruq, who is believed to be one of Osama bin Laden's top
representatives in Southeast Asia.
"I don't want to mention all the details again, just to say that the Time magazine
reports were confirmed by Faruq. One of them is about his presence in Indonesia
linking him to subversive activities," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf
said during a press conference.
"The activities include a plot to kill President Megawati, the bomb attack on the
Istiqlal Mosque in 1999 and the Christmas Bombings in 2000."
Citing al-Faruq's confession, Saaf also confirmed that the man of Middle Eastern
descent and married to an Indonesian, worked along with Indonesian accomplices,
but declined to mention any names.
However, Saleh said, police have yet to find any link between Faruq's confessions and
the Bali bomb attack thus far.
The team returned on Wednesday evening from the U.S. after making "cross checks"
with his statements against police records.
"Not only were Faruq's statements as reported by Time magazine in September
consistent, but we also did some cross checks on other things not included in that
report," Saleh asserted.
"We have obtained very valuable information to uncover terrorist networks in
Indonesia," Saleh remarked.
The information they gleaned now confirms the name of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, 64,
chairman of the radical group Indonesia Mujahiddin Council (MMI) as reported by
Time, was acquainted with al-Faruq and "involved in many of al-Faruq's plots."
Ba'asyir's lawyer, Mahendradatta, said on Thursday that the police had ordered the
arrest of the Muslim cleric, who is accused of links with terrorism.
The lawyer said police have issued a summons for Ba'asyir. It was not clear whether
the cleric had already been detained, however.
"We can only say that we're sad that the government has succumbed to international
pressure to arrest ustadz (the teacher)," he told AFP.
But deputy spokesman of the National Police, Sr. Comr. Prasetio, denied the report
saying they only had a summons for Ba'asyir to come on Saturday for questioning as
a suspect.
"No, there is no order of arrest against him (Ba'asyir). We only issued a summons,"
he told The Jakarta Post.
Time said that Ba'asyir is the leader of JI, a militant group that seeks to establish a
pure Islamic state across Southeast Asia.
To this point, Ba'asyir has confidently dismissed allegations that he was acquainted
with al-Faruq who is now under U.S. detention after being arrested on June 5 in Bogor,
West Java, and spirited out of the country.
Ba'asyir filed on Wednesday a lawsuit against Time and charged the magazine with
defamation, claiming Rp 1 trillion in damages.
However, National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar emphasized that al-Faruq and
Ba'asyir were well acquainted.
"That's crystal clear that Faruq knew Ba'asyir," Da'i asserted.
Da'i added that police still delve into Faruq's details that he claimed to provide "a
number of statements and information which are subject to follow-ups."
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