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Terror mastermind walks
Indonesia is pandering to Islamic radicalism by releasing terror mastermind Abu Bakar Bashir, an unrepentant preacher of violent jihad who applauds September 11 and has been linked to the Bali bombings. (Of course, he blames the Bali bombings on the CIA. I guess Mossad was otherwise occupied that day.) Note also that, despite his holding tiny-minority-of-extremists views, he has wide popular appeal in Indonesia. From The Australian, with thanks to Nicolei:
THE terrorist-linked Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir will almost certainly be released from prison next month, following an Indonesian Supreme Court decision to halve his sentence.Widely believed to have led Jemaah Islamiah until his arrest in October 2002 following the Bali bombings, Bashir has consistently maintained his innocence.
As the faithful beat a path to his cell in Jakarta's Salemba prison, Bashir denied all knowledge of the JI Bali bombings that killed 202 people, yet refused to condemn the bombers.
Speaking to The Australian from prison yesterday, Bashir, while saying he respected the Supreme Court, was dismissive of its decision to reduce his sentence for immigration and document falsification crimes from three years to 18 months.
"I still think the verdict is cruel and unfair, because the matter of faking the documents is not based on facts," he said.
Revered by thousands, the Islamic radical could now become an anti-US icon in Indonesia, and perhaps be used by conservative Islamic parties in the coming elections.
JI expert Sydney Jones, director of the International Crisis Group's Jakarta bureau, says Bashir has star power in Indonesia.
It is understood the judges determining Bashir's case last year were concerned for their safety.
Bashir was sentenced last September to four years in prison on treason and immigration charges, widely thought to be a very light sentence. In December, an appeals court quashed the treason conviction and reduced his sentence to three years. In the decision announced yesterday, the Supreme Court reduced it again to 18 months, nearly all of which Bashir has served.
In an interview shown on SBS last night, Bashir said the Central Intelligence Agency was behind the Bali bombings and described the US and Australia as terrorists.
Speaking from his prison cell, he said terrorists were those who did not show their true intentions.
He said Australia and the US were intent on undermining Indonesia's Muslim population and the CIA had been involved in the Bali bombings to undermine Indonesia.
"Only the dishonest and stupid people deny that the CIA used Bali for their own purposes," he said.
"If we're talking about terrorists, it's America. People who don't show their real interests. It's just America's tricks. America and Australia."
Bashir said Americans, Europeans and Jews were all intent on undermining Islam for their own purposes.
He said the September 11 terror attacks on the US were part of a holy war against America and it was wrong to call those responsible for the attacks terrorists.
"I say to Muslims that to call them terrorists is a big sin," he said.
"People who call them terrorists are sinners. They're Mujaheddin defending Islam."
Bali survivor Peter Hughes said last night he feared Bashir, once released from jail, would seize the opportunity to resume his dangerous and influential role among Muslim radicals."I don't want to see him out," he said. "He has a lot of influence.
"Some of the radicals in Indonesia think he's a hero."
Mr Hughes was in the Sari Club along with former AFL footballer Jason McCartney when the bombs went off. He was critically injured.
He has returned to Bali several times and was one of three Australians to testify at the trial of Bali bomber Amrozi last June.
Mr Hughes said the reduction in the Bashir sentence had confirmed his poor opinion of the Indonesian justice system.
"It's amazing what happens in Indonesia with these people," he said. "I think the Indonesian Government needs to have a very good look at this bloke.
"They should be really worried about his behaviour."
Fellow Perth Bali survivor Tracey Ball also expressed disappointment at the court ruling.
"That angers me, it really does," she said.
"There's no justice. If he has been found guilty of plotting against the Government, surely the Government should be spending more time and effort trying to keep him behind bars for as long as possible."
Other family members of Bali bombing victims expressed resignation at the early release of Bashir, saying that whatever happened to him it wouldn't bring back their loved ones.
Cameron Airlie, who lost his mother Gayle, said it didn't matter to him what happened to JI's spiritual leader.
"It doesn't bother me at all," he said. "Eighteen months is better than nothing."
Ann Cronin lost her son Paul in the Sari Club explosion. He was one of three players from the Forbes football club who died.
She said the reduction of Bashir's sentence was "no great shock".
"Somehow I expected this would happen," she said. "It won't bring my son back."
Posted by Robert at March 10, 2004 8:35 AM
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Indonesia is sending the wrong signals, if they want to bring foreign tourists back. Less than two years for killing 200 people?
It isn't hard to see which countries are serious about cracking down on terrorism, and which aren't. Pakistans Musharaff only recently saw the light, after the jihadis started trying to kill him. The more you appease these groups, the more you encourage them.
Posted by: basil at March 10, 2004 10:58 AMBashir the head of JI and very respected in Indonesia or so they say he is, truthfully he is respected by the federals as well as the civilians, he keeps the civilians excited, by every so often setting fire works off, and the federals on the pay roll. The truth is Mr Basil's Bush that Indonesia is a very big country with a very big population. With the release of Bashir there is no change in the current events of the world. America is still fighting the war on terrorism with him in prison, and would be even if he was dead. Why is one man feared so much? It isnt the man they fear it is his beliefs. In reality this bloke and his followers are willing to die for their beliefs, who else in the world would be willing to do such a thing. The poor yankees in America send letters of tears, crying to their loved ones how they shat their pants when a mouse squeeked in the night. To die for ones beliefs irrespective of what they are is a very big thing. Would you Basil's Bush be willing to shave it all off and die for Christianity??
Posted by: Marcos at March 10, 2004 11:36 AMWhere are the CIA death squads when ya need 'em?
Posted by: Hal at March 10, 2004 12:53 PMmarcos, Indonesia is a large country. What you neglect to mention is that it it a third world nation of almost no value. We have a hole in Arizona you could drop the Fillipines into. If this old bugger is so willing to die for his beliefs as you say, why doesn't he do it? Like Sadsdam and Bin Laden he's hiding behind the youths and letting them do the dying. Islam is a stupid religion for stupid people. What other religion thinks you get to heaven by wiping your arse with a rock an even number of times and not an odd number? Islam has contributed nothing to modern society. Math, (and don't give me that lie about the numbers being Arabic. Everybody knows they are Hindu in origin, picked up my muslim traders and used by Greek mathematicians.) science, biology, art, nothing invented or contributed by muslims. All modern advances the muslims use have been made by Christian and Jewish scientiests. Cars, telephones, televisions, radios, airplanes, electricity, computers, medicines, not one single thing contributed by the mussies. Not ONE. Even the weapons they use are Russian mostly and were created by godless atheists under Communism. Remember that every time you get in your car, turn on a light, talk on a phone, watch tv, or use a microwave to heat your meals. Everything you use in modern society is a statement of the fact that islam is a failure. Remember also that Bush wasn't the one who swore he would never be taken alive and was found cowering in a hole like a small dog. Bin laden is hiding under a rock now like the rat he is, but we'll get him too. Keep on believing the lies your muslim leaders tell you and we'll keep laughing at you. We need a good joke.
Posted by: Hal at March 10, 2004 1:19 PMI actually don't mind if they die for their beliefs. I do mind when they kill innocent people for their beliefs. They even killed Indonesians and Muslims with the Bali bombs, just like they killed Turks in Turkey and Moroccans in Morocco, and Iraqis in Iraq, etc. ad infinitum. Any group that kills civilians to further there aim is a terror group, and Indonesia is pandering to them.
Posted by: basil at March 10, 2004 1:47 PMhaha.. Hal.. Don't hold anything back. Make sure you shoot straight with them...
Posted by: Wild Hare at March 10, 2004 1:57 PMI couldn't help but notice that Bashir is using a cell phone!
Now, what would happen if we just cut them off from technology? They would then be free to develop their own. ;-)
Lili
Posted by: Lilith at March 10, 2004 3:51 PMMarcos, poor fella, you truly have no idea what you're talking about. I'm unsure if you are what you say you are, or if you live in the US at all. But let me set you straight on something: Most Americans are not afraid of you or islamists in general. I spent the day/night of 9/11 crawling through the Pentagon, including the collapse zones. That's what I do as a firefighter/paramedic. Been doing it for nearly 20 years, and been close to death many, many times. And I'm willing to die--not to please God by taking innocent others with me--for no other reason than to save a life.
I don't say all this in order to show myself as someone exceptional, but rather just the opposite. I'm a regular guy, and there are millions and millions of us in this country, most of whom would risk their lives to save another.
Beyond that though, most of us would be willing to die to safeguard FREEDOM. That simple idea is so much more powerful than any hate-filled rant vomited out by some washed-up, 99 lb., smelly imam that there really can be no comparison.
And to get back to my original thought: After all the close shaves I've been through in my 39 years, the idea that I'm somehow afraid of anorexic, pissed-off skeletons wearing dresses who've had a little weapons training is laughable in the extreme.
Posted by: Doug at March 10, 2004 11:52 PM
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