Indonesian police have moved closer to declaring Muslim preacher Abu Bakar Bashir a suspect in a fresh case after gathering evidence from witnesses in neighbouring countries, the police chief said on Wednesday. The 65-year-old Bashir is in jail for immigration offences and is due to be freed on April 30, a prospect that has alarmed the United States and other governments.
| Could always deport him to Singapore, y'know... |
Police building the new case delayed plans last week to interrogate Bashir, saying investigators needed more evidence against the jailed preacher, accused by some governments of heading the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah militant network. Police chief General Dai Bachtiar -- who two weeks ago said Bashir could be named a suspect -- said investigators had returned from Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore, where numerous Jemaah Islamiah operatives have been arrested. âLater, if all that testimony is complete, all the witnesses are lined up and everything is properly recorded, heâll be a suspect,â Bachtiar told reporters, sticking to his previous refusal to give details of possible charges.
| "We're working on it. Don't rush us..." |
Bashirâs lawyers have said their client would be interrogated under Indonesiaâs anti-terrorism law. Bashir was arrested just after the Bali bombings. He has denied links to Jemaah Islamiah and terrorism. The police chief said he believed Bashir would be interrogated soon, although he gave no timeframe. âWe just need to find a good timing. But I think it will be soon,â Bachtiar said. Bashirâs lawyers have accused the worldâs most populous Muslim nation of caving in to foreign pressure to go after Bashir again after previous charges of links to Jemaah Islamiah were either dismissed or overturned in lower courts.
| Wassa motta? The fix not staying in? |
The police moves have surprised some analysts, coming before Bashir has been released and at a sensitive time when Indonesia has just held parliamentary elections, with the countryâs first direct presidential poll to follow in July. But campaigning for the April 5 parliamentary poll showed there was little support for radical views espoused by Bashir.
| ... so nobody'll really care that much if his neck's lengthened significantly. |
Jemaah Islamiah wants to set up a pan-Islamic state in parts of the region. Some arrested Jemaah Islamiah suspects detained elsewhere in Southeast Asia cooperated in the previous investigation against Bashir. |