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| Sunday, 20 October 2002 |
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Indonesian police send team to see militant Bashir JAKARTA, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Indonesian police were sending a team on Saturday to the city of Solo in central Java to interview militant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, a terror suspect, and check on his health, a police official said. It was unclear whether they would try to interrogate Bashir immediately if they determined he was seriously ill. Bashir had been scheduled for questioning in Jakarta on Saturday in relation to a bombing in 2000, but he was admitted to hospital on Friday in Solo and aides and doctors said he would be unable to travel on Saturday. In Jakarta, National Police general criminal director Arianto Sutadi told Reuters a team was being sent to Solo "to check (Bashir's) health, interview him and so on". He declined to comment on the possibility police might bring Bashir to Jakarta. Foreign intelligence officials believe Bashir is a leader in the al Qaeda-linked regional Jemaah Islamiah network, blamed for planning terrorism acts throughout Southeast Asia. Some have linked it to last weekend's Bali bombings that killed more than 180 people. Bashir has denied any links to terrorism or knowledge of Jemaah Islamiah. Indonesian legal procedure routinely allows suspects to miss up to three summons before any action is taken to enforce a request for interrogation, but Bashir's high profile, terrorism suspect category, and a just-issued anti-terrorism decree increasing police powers may not give him that leeway. One Western diplomat told reporters on Friday he doubted Bashir's sickness would seriously prolong action. Asked about that possibility, he said: "My sense is the government very much feels the weight of public opinion in the world and in Indonesia on it right now." |
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