Indonesia, galvanized by deadly bomb blasts in Bali, is set to question a militant Muslim cleric its neighbors and Western intelligence agencies say is a key player in regional terror, but an aide said he was sick and may not show up.
Late yesterday, top Indonesian officials were also expected to put the finishing touches to a new anti-terrorism decree making it easier to act against terror suspects.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard, speaking to reporters after visiting the bomb site in Kuta which is thought to have killed more than 100 of his compatriots, said he was pleased with the Indonesian response.
"I will say without equivocation we have put the view again, urgently and strongly, to the Indonesian government since last Saturday, that a much tougher approach to terrorism must be taken."
"This is a view that we have put to [Indonesia] over a long period of time and I'm very pleased with the responses since Saturday," he said.
In Bali, a team of 95 law enforcement personnel from seven countries are working on the investigation which is being jointly run by Indonesia and Australia and has been dubbed Operation Alliance, Australia's chief police investigator in the case said.
Federal agent Graham Ashton also said international police personnel would travel across the vast Indonesian archipelago, if need be, to conduct the probe.
"We are getting significant information in, we do have a view [on who is behind the blast], but we are not prepared to say," Ashton told a joint news conference with the Indonesian police.
Police said Abu Bakar Bashir, the cleric foreign intelligence officials believe is a leader in the al-Qaeda-linked regional Jemaah Islamiah network, had been summoned for questioning last Saturday but police and his lawyer said this was not over the Bali attack.
Bashir's lawyer Mahendradatta said police documents showed his client was a suspect in a bomb attack in 2000.
"I underline this has nothing to do with the Bali blast. There is no connection with the Bali bombing," he added.
Irfan Awwas, executive chairman of the Mujahidin Council Indonesia-MMI of which Bashir is spiritual leader, said Bashir was sick and had been taken by ambulance to a hospital in his home city of Solo.
"He has to go to Jakarta but it seems he cannot go," Awwas said. Photos showed Bashir on a stretcher with a breathing tube in his nose and a doctor said he would not be able to leave the hospital for at least two days.
Police spokesman Saleh Saaf said he would wait to see whether Bashir shows up as scheduled at 10am today before making a comment on what action police might take.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS