Abu Bakar Ba'asyr, who is suspected of ties to al-Qaeda, condemns abduction of two Indonesian women as "contrary to Islam".
Jakarta (AsiaNews) Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, in jail for suspected links to terrorist groups, refused his release in exchange for that of the two Indonesian women taken hostage in Iraq. Ba'asyir and his followers believe that the abduction of Rosidah binti Anom and Rafikan binti Amin and the demand by the Islamic Army in Iraq that he be released in exchange for that of the two women are part of a CIA plot.
Ba'asyir is president of the Islamic organisation Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia (MMI). He has been accused of leading Jemaaah Islamiyah, a south-east Asian terrorist network linked to al-Qaeda and blamed for the Bali and Marriot Hotel bombings, charges he has always denied. The evidence however shows that he met the attackers.
Ba'asyir's attorney stated that his client believes the message by the Islamic Army in Iraq to be false because "Islamic mujahidin would never take women as hostages since it is against the teachings of Islam".
A MMI spokesperson said that the elderly cleric is the scapegoat the US was looking for to justify claims about alleged links between Jemaaah Islamiyah and fundamentalist groups in Iraq.
To further complicate matters, the men taken into custody for their alleged involvement in the September 7 attack against the Australian Embassy in Jakarta told Indonesian police that they belong to the so-called Indonesian Islamic State (NII), a political movement that tried to set up a Shar'ia-based state in 1949 but was banned for separatism. Should these claims bear out, investigators would have to refocus their attention from international to local terrorism.
Indonesian police Chief Dai Bachtiar said yesterday that that "the NII cause should not be confused with that of any one religion. The suspects said they belonged to the NII, not to any religion (i.e. Islam)".
In the meantime, the examination of DNA samples taken from the site of the Australian Embassy attack indicated that the suicide bomber was 26-year-old Heri Golun, from West Java, a well-known Jemaaah Islamiyah recruiting ground. (MH)