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Cianjur, West Java. News that Al Qaeda terror suspect Riduan “Hambali” Isamuddin may stand trial in the United States was met with relief by his family in West Java, who have been dogged by fear and uncertainty over the fate of a son and brother they haven’t seen in more than 10 years.

However, his family says they still cannot believe that Hambali, born Encep Nurjaman in April, 1966, could be executed in the United States for terrorist attacks carried out in Indonesia, and they held out hope that he would be brought home to stand trial.

“Thank God if there can be certainty for my brother,” one of Hambali’s younger brothers, Kankan Abdul Qadir, 31, told the Jakarta Globe during an exclusive interview on Monday at his parent’s home in Cianjur, about 100 kilometers from Jakarta.

“Our mother, Mariyani, also continues to pray for my brother,” he added.

Although Hambali has not seen his family since he briefly visited his Malaysian bride around 1998, they say they have kept in touch with him during his detention at Guantanamo Bay through letters sent via the International Committee of the Red Cross (IRCR), which told them last year that Hambali might be tried in the United States.

The first contact came in 2006, when ICRC representatives visited Hambali’s family in Cianjur to update them about the health of the terror suspect, who stands accused of organizing the 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people. Since then, “countless” letters have come from Hambali, who was taken to Guantanamo sometime after his arrest in Thailand in 2003.

The letters, Kankan said, were written in Bahasa Indonesia, Arabic, English or Sundanese, and appeared to be censored by the US military.

Last week, the family received a photograph of Hambali taken sometime before June 2009, along with a letter addressed to one of his other younger brothers, Gungun Rusman Gunawan, who spent three years in prison for his involvement in the 2003 bombing of the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta. Written in English, the letter read, “How are you Gungun? I am fine. This is my latest picture for you, and you can read about me. My current weight is 65 [kilograms].”

On Friday, an Indonesian National Police source said Hambali would stand trial in the United States. Separately, American officials were quoted by The Associated Press as saying the Obama administration was considering bringing Hambali and other terrorism suspects before a federal judge in Washington.

Hambali was allegedly Osama bin Laden’s point man in Southeast Asia and, until his capture, was believed to be the main link between Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah, the regional terrorist network blamed for the first Bali bombing.

The West Java native’s journey into international terrorism began after he went abroad to Malaysia in 1984 as a migrant worker. Kankan said the family knew nothing of his movements after that, including his trip to Afghanistan, where he underwent training at a mujahideen camp run by bin Laden.

Hambali’s visit home to Indonesia in the late 1990s was followed by the Christmas Eve terrorist bombings in 2000.

“So when we learned that he was wanted by the police in 2000 we were surprised and shocked,” Kankan said. “Was it true that my brother did as the police claimed — that he was related to several terror networks?”

Kankan said that when his father died in 2001, the family had no idea where Hambali was, and only learned of his whereabouts after his capture in Thailand.

Kankan said they wanted the Indonesian government to help them to travel to Washington to see Hambali if he was to be transferred there for trial, and to assist them in getting US approval to meet with him.