Cleric probed over terror role
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Indonesian investigators have questioned imprisoned Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir for four hours about his possible role in terror attacks in the Asian nation, but he provided little information, a spokesman for the religious leader said.
According to Fauzan Anshori, a spokesman for Ba'asyir and the Indonesian Mujahideen Council, the elderly cleric refused to answer questions as he accused Indonesia investigators of being an arm of the United States.
Lawyers for the alleged spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group said police are trying to link him to the October 12 Bali bombings.
Ba'asyir is scheduled to be released from prison Friday, a move which is prompting fears of an escalation of terrorist activity in Indonesia. He is serving a one-and-a-half year jail term for immigration violations and document forgery.
The United States and other nations say Ba'asyir is the head of JI, al Qaeda's arm in Southeast Asia, responsible for two attacks on Indonesian soil, including the Bali attack which killed more than 200 people.
But the 65-year-old cleric has been cleared of terrorism charges by Indonesian courts and denies even the existence of Jemaah Islamiyah.
Speaking recently from prison, Ba'asyir told CNN's Jakarta Bureau Chief Maria Ressa that her book which documents his ties to terrorism is "full of lies."
He says he is in prison because of U.S. pressure on Indonesia.
"The U.S. government, Bush, is targeting me because they have elections and they haven't yet found Osama bin Laden. I'm just a scapegoat," Ba'asyir told CNN.
In Ba'asyir's view, JI and al Qaeda are inventions of the United States designed to tear down Islam, and that he is nothing more than an Islamic preacher.
"The fact the planned questioning came after the United States had handed over 125 transcripts of its investigation into suspected terrorist Riduan Isamuddin, alias Hambali, proved that the world's only superpower had compelled Indonesia to press charges against Ba'asyir," Ba'asyir's lawyer, Mohammad Assegaff, said.
Ba'asyir's innocence has also been championed by one of the convicted Bali bombers.
"Ba'asyir had nothing to do with the Bali bombing," Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, told reporters from his jail cell in Bali recently. "If he was linked to it in the past, it was just because (those who implicated him) were tortured by interrogators."
But others disagree.
"This man is not just an innocent old preacher," says Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group. "The man knows perfectly well JI exists. If he says it doesn't exist, he's lying through his teeth."
What worries analysts is that when Ba'asyir is released from prison, he will gain credibility and fuel public skepticism about Jemaah Islamiyah's existence.
And that could turn out to be another factor making Indonesia more vulnerable in a global war on terror.
-- CNN Jakarta Bureau Chief Maria Ressa contributed to this report
