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bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
=== News Update ===
9/11 : Bashir slams Australia, US for 'engineering' his jailing
*
LIndsay Murdoch, Jakarta
December 23, 2006
Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir plans to intensify his campaign for the
introduction of strict Islamic law in Indonesia after the country's
Supreme Court overturned his conviction for terrorism.
Bashir told The Age yesterday that pushing for sharia remained his
priority, even though he believed he had been put on a United Nations
list of international terrorists "because the United States is afraid of
my fight for sharia".
Since being released from jail in June, Bashir has become a celebrity in
predominantly Muslim Indonesia. He lectures at rallies attended by
thousands of supporters.
Many of his claims are bizarre, including that the first Bali bombing in
2002 was caused by a "mini nuclear explosion". The convicted bombers
were not responsible, because they could not make such a bomb, Bashir
claims, but has produced no evidence.
Speaking from the Islamic school he runs in the central Java city of
Solo, Bashir lashed out at the Australian Government again yesterday. He
accused it of intervening in Indonesia's judicial system by opposing his
efforts to reduce his 2½-year jail sentence.
"I was jailed because it was engineered by the US and its friends,
including the incumbent Australian Government," Bashir said.
He said he was still considering whether to seek compensation for his
jailing. He also said he would fight to have his name removed from the
UN terrorism list.
"I do not accept to be included on it," he said.
The International Crisis Group's Sidney Jones believes overturning
Bashir's conviction will have little direct impact on terrorism networks
in Indonesia. They are widely thought to be planning new attacks,
possibly during Christmas or the New Year.
Bashir was not believed to be linked to fugitive Noordin Top, accused of
masterminding the most recent bombings in Indonesia, Ms Jones said.
She said the overturning of Bashir's conviction was "legally the right
thing to do".
"The prosecution put forward to the judges a case that would have been
thrown out by any self-respecting court in the US, Australia, Europe, or
anywhere else for that matter," Ms Jones said.
"Overturning the conviction may be a blow for terrorism, but it was the
right move for upholding the rule of law."
The Indonesian Government's efforts to curtail Bashir's activities were
set back severely by a 2004 Constitutional Court ruling, which made it
almost impossible to apply terrorism laws retroactively. During Bashir's
two trials, prosecutors had to rely on evidence as flimsy as reports of
a conversation that he allegedly had with convicted Bali bomber Amrozi.
The claim that Bashir was involved in the 2003 bombing of the Marriott
Hotel in Jakarta was based on a lecture that he gave in the Philippines
that was attended by some of those who planted the bomb.
"The prosecutors have got to be mad if they thought that would hold," Ms
Jones said.
But she said there was no doubt that Bashir was the commander of the JI
terrorist organisation. Indonesian police and prosecutors were angry
that the US refused requests for the terrorist Hambali — captured in
Thailand in August 2003 — to be brought to Jakarta to testify against
Bashir.
The US has never said why it would not produce Hambali, who is believed
to have outlined JI's operation to American investigators. He was JI's
operational head in South-East Asia and attended a meeting in Bangkok in
early 2002 to plan the first Bali bombing.
"Indonesia's court operates on the basis of witness testimony," a
security analyst in Jakarta said yesterday.
"The Indonesians needed Hambali's evidence to put Bashir away for a long
time."
source:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/12/22/1166290743193.html
===
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