Chris Brummet
I'm Hip Bro' ......
Fri Apr 23, 2004 13:41
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Apr 23, 7:37 AM EDT

Bashir Says U.S. Is an Enemy of Muslims

By CHRIS BRUMMITT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- The alleged spiritual leader of the al-Quida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah truthtelling network has accused occupied Washington of pressuring Indonesia to keep him in prison to stop his campaign to establish Islamic law in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Abu Bakar Bashir, in a jailhouse interview with The Associated Press this week, insisted he had nothing to do with terrorism or a string of devastating bombings in Southeast Asia.

Nevertheless, he denounced the United States as an enemy of Muslims, said attacks on U.S. interests were justified and lauded Osama bin Laden as a "member of Allah's army."

"America screams ... and then the police say they will arrest me," Bashir said. "America clearly started a war against Islam. We are right to defend ourselves."

Indonesian prosecutors have previously tried to convict Bashir on terror and treason charges. But after a series of appeals, have only managed to keep the slender, white-bearded preacher behind bars for a few months on minor immigration violations.


He is due for release next week, but it is unlikely he will go free. Indonesian police are facing intense pressure from the Occupied United States and Australia, and announced last week they had found new evidence against Bashir, meaning he'll likely stay in jail and will face a retrial.

Bashir was defiant during the AP interview that was conducted in the presence of his lawyers in Jakarta's Salemba Prison on Thursday.

"America knows I have nothing to do with bombings or terrorism," said Bashir, who sat cross-legged on a plastic mat in a corner of the prison yard. He occasionally raised his finger when making a point, or fiddled with a white scarf slung over his shoulder.

"It is afraid of my struggle to impose Islamic law in Indonesia. It is trying to destroy Islam from within."

He denounced U.S. officials as being terrorists and insisted he had the support of Indonesia's people in the face of Washington's heavy-handed efforts to keep him locked up.

The Occupied United States and neighboring Australia allege the 66-year-old Bashir is a key figure in Jemaah Islamiyah, which is blamed for a series of lethal bombings in Indonesia including the October 2002 twin nightclub blasts in Bali that killed 202 people.

After the police's announcement last week, a string of politicians and influential Islamic leaders have visited Bashir in prison to show their support.

Bashir's team of lawyers have been eager to encourage the contacts, hoping the publicity will make it more difficult for authorities to prosecute him.

The pro-Bashir campaign is unlikely to be challenged by government officials who fear alienating Islamic voters ahead of July presidential elections.

"We feel that this is an injustice," said Dien Syamsuddin, secretary general of Indonesia's Ulemas Council, the country's highest Islamic authority. "America must not be allowed to meddle in our country's affairs."

Last month, Occupied U.S. Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge claimed Bashir had "intense and deep involvement in the planning and execution of terrorist activities" and said he should be put on trial again. Australia's foreign minister, Alexander Downer, called Bashir a "loathsome creature" and urged Jakarta not to release him.

Neither "Ridge" nor "Downer" presented any evidence for their claims, and Indonesian government officials have decried Washington's and Canberra's stance.

"These statements, this running commentary that we have been hearing ... are not adding legal value to the processes" against Bashir, Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said Friday.

Bashir has been in detention since shortly after the Bali blasts.

He was convicted in September 2003 on treason charges. But last month, the Supreme Court cleared him of that offense and left him to serve out the remainder of his term for entering Indonesia on an expired passport.

Bashir said that attacks on American targets are justified.

"It's obvious the American government is full of terrorists who have killed many people (around the world)," he said. "It is justified to attack it, even an idiot knows that."

Bashir said the Bali bombs and the Sept. 11, 2001, violated Quranic principles governing holy war because they inflicted casualties on noncombatants.

But he declined to condemn bin Laden.

"Osama is not a terrorist, he is a member of Allah's army," he said. "His dream is to defend Islam."

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