The longer suspected bombing mastermind Hambali stays under wraps in US custody, the more Washington risks irritating allies and losing an opportunity to convince doubters about the reality of terrorist networks.
Southeast Asian governments have welcomed the capture earlier this month of the alleged senior al-Qaeda operative and boss of the regional militant group Jemaah Islamiah, but where US authorities took Hambali and what they intend doing with him remains a secret.
Security officials say Hambali, a Muslim preacher also known by his alias Riduan Isamuddin, helped plot the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the US as well as attacks throughout Southeast Asia.
US President George W. Bush called Hambali "one of the world's most lethal terrorists" and said the capture early this month meant he was "no longer a problem."
But that is not particularly helpful to countries such as Indonesia, where not everyone is convinced Hambali and Jemaah Islamiah were responsible for the Bali bombings last October which killed 202 people or that they had a part in this month's Jakarta hotel bombing that killed 12.
Many in Indonesia still don't even believe Jemaah Islamiah exist in the world's most populous Muslim country, according to International Crisis Group Indonesia Project Director Sidney Jones.
"Unless a figure like Hambali can be brought to trial in Indonesia in a way that the Indonesian public can see and hear and learn about the nature of his links to al-Qaeda, they're still going to believe that no such linkage exists," she said.
Similar sentiments came from Ahmad Syafii Maarif, chairman of the 30-million-strong moderate Indonesian Muslim group Muhammadiyah. Asked whether a public trial of Hambali was important, he said: "Of course that's very very important, very decisive."
Hambali, a native Indonesian, has to be returned or else gradually the public could "lose their confidence, their trust in US good intentions," Maarif said.
However, one Western diplomat who declined to be identified said considering the trials Indonesia has already held or is holding over the Bali bombings and other attacks: "I don't think one more public trial would necessarily affect public opinion that much, at least in the short term."
Indonesian officials have said they want access to Hambali for questioning and eventually would like him brought back for trial. Some officials say Washington is being cooperative but they offer no specifics on when either goal might be achieved.
But it isn't just Indonesia with claims on Hambali. Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines could make legal cases against him as well, if what intelligence officials say about his role as a mastermind of violence is true.
The Philippines has also asked for access to Hambali, a suspect in a December 2000 light rail transit bombing which killed 22 people.
A security official in Kuala Lumpur said Malaysia would like some access to Hambali to help Jemaah Islamiah investigations.
BLOODSHED: North Koreans take extreme measures to avoid being taken prisoner and sometimes execute their own forces, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday said that Russian and North Korean forces sustained heavy losses in fighting in Russia’s southern Kursk region. Ukrainian and Western assessments say that about 11,000 North Korean troops are deployed in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces occupy swathes of territory after staging a mass cross-border incursion in August last year. In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy quoted a report from Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi as saying that the battles had taken place near the village of Makhnovka, not far from the Ukrainian border. “In battles yesterday and today near just one village, Makhnovka,
The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland on Tuesday expressed concern about “the political crisis” in Georgia, two days after Mikheil Kavelashvili was formally inaugurated as president of the South Caucasus nation, cementing the ruling party’s grip in what the opposition calls a blow to the country’s EU aspirations and a victory for former imperial ruler Russia. “We strongly condemn last week’s violence against peaceful protesters, media and opposition leaders, and recall Georgian authorities’ responsibility to respect human rights and protect fundamental freedoms, including the freedom to assembly and media freedom,” the three ministers wrote in a joint statement. In reaction
BARRIER BLAME: An aviation expert questioned the location of a solid wall past the end of the runway, saying that it was ‘very bad luck for this particular airplane’ A team of US investigators, including representatives from Boeing, on Tuesday examined the site of a plane crash that killed 179 people in South Korea, while authorities were conducting safety inspections on all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country’s airlines. All but two of the 181 people aboard the Boeing 737-800 operated by South Korean budget airline Jeju Air died in Sunday’s crash. Video showed the aircraft, without its landing gear deployed, crash-landed on its belly and overshoot a runaway at Muan International Airport before it slammed into a barrier and burst into flames. The plane was seen having engine trouble.
REVELRY ON HOLD: Students marched in Belgrade amid New Year’s events, saying that ‘there is nothing to celebrate’ after the train station tragedy killed 15 Thousands of students marched in Belgrade and two other Serbian cities during a New Year’s Eve protest that went into yesterday, demanding accountability over the fatal collapse of a train station roof in November. The incident in the city of Novi Sad occurred on Nov. 1 at a newly renovated train facility, killing 14 people — aged six to 74 — at the scene, while a 15th person died in hospital weeks later. Public outrage over the tragedy has sparked nationwide protests, with many blaming the deaths on corruption and inadequate oversight of construction projects. In Belgrade, university students marched through the capital
RSS