Farouk Arnaz

Police Offer Assistance for US Trial of Bali Bombing Suspect

Elite counterterrorism unit Detachment 88 is ready to assist the United States if it goes ahead with plans to try Indonesian-born Al Qaeda terrorist suspect Riduan “Hambali” Isamuddin in Washington, the unit’s commander said on Sunday.

Hambali, suspected of planning the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, is currently being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba.

Brig. Gen. Tito Karnavian, head of Detachment 88, also confirmed international and local news reports late last week that the Obama administration was considering putting Hambali and other terrorism suspects on trial in the United States.

He said his unit would coordinate with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, “including on what the FBI might need from us to investigate Hambali’s involvement in several terrorist attacks here.”

On Friday, an Indonesian National Police source said Hambali would be tried in the United States. 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, that nation’s capital and site of one of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“I was told verbally by my FBI [counterpart in Jakarta] last year that Hambali would be tried in the US, but so far there has been no official notification. I cannot say much because I will first coordinate with the FBI about this plan,” Karnavian said.

Hambali was allegedly Osama bin Laden’s point man in Southeast Asia and, until his capture in Thailand in August 2003, was believed to be the main link between Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah, the regional terrorist network blamed for the first Bali bombing.

US authorities have already begun discussing the intense security measures needed to try Hambali and other high-profile terrorist defendants from Guantanamo, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, in Washington or New York, AP reported. An Indonesian police source said last week that Hambali could stand trial for his role in the 2000 Christmas Eve bombings in Indonesia, as well as the 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing in Jakarta.

In March 2009, Indonesian government officials said they had requested the Obama administration continue to detain Hambali even after its closes Guantanamo Bay. The officials had said there were concerns Hambali would attempt to “re-energize his old movement” if he was returned to Indonesia to stand trial.

The government also wanted to avoid a repeat of the media circuses that surrounded the release of Abu Bakar Bashir, the reputed leader of JI, from prison in 2006, and the execution of the three Bali bombers in November 2008, an official said.

Hambali’s Indonesian lawyer, Achmad Micdan, said on Sunday he still wanted Hambali to be returned to Indonesia to face trial.

“We need to clarify his involvement in several terrorist incidents here. We cannot just believe what people claim about him,” he said.

Your View

See Result