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.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including