The Indonesian authorities have released radical cleric Abu
Bakar Bashir from prison on Wednesday more than two years after he
was imprisoned for conspiracy in the 2002 nightclub bombings in
Bali.
The move to set free the 68-year-old co-founder of the
al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist group has drawn
condemnation from countries such as Australia -- 88 of whose
citizens were among the 202 people killed in the Bali attack and
the US, which has pressed Jakarta for a harder line on
terrorism.
"The possibility that a person responsible for such a terrible
crime could go free after serving a light sentence...is cause for
concern," said a spokesman for the US embassy in Jakarta.
Terrorism experts and Indonesian security officials warn against
overstating his importance. While he may once have been the active
leader of JI, there have been signs in recent years, they say, that
hardliners within the organization no longer either trust or revere
him.
Indonesian officials also say further western pressure could
hurt rather than help the fight against terrorism, especially as
the war in Iraq plods on. The "exaggerated attention" given to
Bashir internationally only elevated his status with the Indonesian
public, said one senior security official Tuesday.
Bashir has never been accused of planning or executing terrorist
attacks in Indonesia. But he has in recent years been a
high-profile weather vane for the direction of the fight against
terrorism in the world's largest Islamic nation.
Before the 2002 Bali attack -- at a time when the US and others
accused Jakarta of ignoring the JI threat -- Bashir was feted by
prominent Indonesian political leaders.
Bashir was arrested just weeks after the bombings, amid an
escalating crackdown on JI.
During Bashir's time in prison JI members have staged three
other high-profile attacks -- on Jakarta's JW Marriott Hotel in
2003, on the Australian embassy in 2004 and on restaurants in Bali
last October. Indonesia has established a strong record for
arresting and prosecuting terrorists, with more than 100 JI members
now behind bars.
(Xinhua News Agency June 14, 2006)
