More News

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Pakistan to get rid of Bali bombing suspect

ISLAMABAD - Notwithstanding serious apprehensions expressed by Indonesian authorities that their local courts will not be able to prosecute Umar Patek, the prime suspect in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombing, if tried at home, the Pakistan government has finally decided to extradite to Indonesia the Jemaah Islamiya commander. He was arrested from Abbottabad where he was supposed to meet al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, later killed in an American military raid on May 1, 2011.

Patek, who reportedly trained with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan before the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States, was able to remain plugged into transnational terror networks for almost a decade despite being one of the world's most wanted terrorists for his role in the Bali bombing that killed more than 200 people, mostly


Patek was captured by Pakistani security agencies in Abbottabad on January 25, belying earlier reports that he had been killed in a military operation in Sulu province of the Philippines on September 14, 2006.

Carrying US$1 million head money, Patek was arrested along with his Filipino wife from the Abbottabad district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province following a bloody gun battle with Pakistani law-enforcement agencies.

However, the Pakistani authorities only made public his arrest two months later, on March 30. Patek is a key leader of the Jemaah Islamiya (JI or Islamic Group in Arabic), which has deep links with al-Qaeda and wants to establish an Islamic state in the region, encompassing Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the southern Philippines and southern Thailand.

Patek's seizure became possible in the wake of a tip off by US intelligence sleuths who had been monitoring some of his close aides in Pakistan following intelligence reports that he and some other al-Qaeda-linked terrorists operating from the Pak-Afghan tribal belt were planning to carry out yet another major terrorist attack in the US to commemorate 10 years since 9/11.

Born in 1970, Patek, a well-trained explosives expert with high-ranking contacts in al-Qaeda, fled Indonesia and joined up with fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines, where he led a JI training camp in Mindanao.

Patek returned to Indonesia sometime in 2010 to establish al-Qaeda's training camp in the Aceh area of Indonesia, located on the northern tip of Sumatra Island. As per Indonesian intelligence input, Patek entered Pakistan via Bangkok in Thailand to meet the fugitive al-Qaeda chief to discuss funding, recruiting and future terrorist operations. Commanders from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al-Qaeda in Iraq, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and JI are sighted in Pakistan from time to time.

There are those in the intelligence community who believe that the 40-year-old Indonesian terrorist, who was treated at an army hospital for bullet wounds to his legs following his arrest, might have spilled the beans on Bin Laden's whereabouts during interrogations.

According to Indonesian authorities, he traveled to Abbottabad in August 2010 and was aiming to meet Bin Laden to get his support and protection.

Indonesian Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro claimed, on May 5, hardly two days after Bin Laden was killed, that Patek had been in Abbottabad to meet Bin Laden because he was also a deputy commander of al-Qaeda's Southeast Asian affiliate, JI. "The information we have is that Umar Patek was in Pakistan with his Filipino wife and trying to meet Osama bin Laden," the defense minister stated.

According to well-informed circles in the Pakistani security establishment, the run of good luck for Patek actually ended on January 23, with the arrest of two Frenchmen from Lahore. Both white jihadis were detained from the Defense Housing Authority area while meeting with an al-Qaeda-linked Pakistani national, Tahir Shehzad.

The Frenchmen were part of the JI and were scheduled to travel with Patek from Abbottabad to the North Waziristan tribal region where al-Qaeda's top command is based.

One detained French citizen was of Pakistani origin while the other was a convert to Islam. Tahir Shehzad had been under surveillance since last year when he was spotted in Abbottabad with an Arab terror suspect. As he left Abbottabad for Lahore on January 23, Pakistani security sleuths followed him and eventually arrested him along with the two French militants, whom he had picked up from Allama Iqbal International Airport. Their subsequent interrogations led to the arrest of Patek from Abbottabad.

Come in Indonesia The Pakistan government had given Indonesia the first choice over three other countries - the United States, Australia and the Philippines - to get Patek's custody, primarily because of his Indonesian citizenship.

This was despite the fact that Pakistan does not share an extradition treaty with Indonesia and the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had sought his custody for having killed seven American nationals in the Bali bombing and also because of his links to al-Qaeda, which is blamed for the 9/11 attacks.

Similarly, Australia wants him in custody for having killed 88 Australian nationals in the Bali suicide attack. And last but not the least, the Philippines wants Patek for planning several terrorist attacks in the country with the help of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a separatist terror group that is active in southern Philippines.

However, to the surprise of the Pakistan government, the Indonesian authorities maintained that they were not very keen to get Patek's custody and that they would have no objection if Islamabad handed him over to any other country where he is wanted for prosecution.

The Indonesian authorities were of the view that his extradition to Jakarta to face terrorism charges would create problems for them as the anti-terrorism law in Indonesia was only enacted in August 2003, and it can't be applied retroactively to punish Patek for the Bali bombing, carried out in October 2002.

Therefore, the National Anti-Terror Agency of Indonesia recently requested Pakistan hand over Patek to the United States, as was the case with his co-conspirator in the Bali bombing, Riduan Isamuddin alias Hambali, who was arrested in Thailand in 2003 but later flown to the US.

Hambali is lingering in the US-run terrorist detention offshore facility in Guantanamo Bay, along with hundreds of other terrorist suspects linked to al-Qaeda. Jakarta did make a formal representation on Hambali's behalf, but never seriously, knowing well that bringing him back to Indonesia would only lead to legal complications that could also lead to him walking free.

However, Pakistan, whose military and diplomatic ties with the US have touched their lowest ebb in the aftermath of the May 2 Abbottabad operation to hunt down Bin Laden, has turned down the Indonesian request, apparently in a fit of anger and decided to hand him over to Jakarta for prosecution.

"Pakistan delivered a message in early July that they will send Umar Patek to Indonesia," the National Anti-Terror Agency deputy chief, Tito Karnavian, is reported to have told journalists on July 25. "Indonesia's Foreign and Justice ministries are now working to process Patek's deportation," he said, adding that Patek's transfer may increase the threat of terrorism in the region. He further warned that it may be difficult to convict him for his role in the Bali attacks as it occurred before more stringent laws on terrorism were enacted.

In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald in the first week of July, the head of Indonesia's anti-terrorism agency, Ansyaad Mbai, stated that Patek would become a new figurehead for violent jihadis if returned to the country of his birth.

"Umar Patek was chased by many countries. There was a [million dollar] prize on his head, but now that he's arrested it is as if Indonesia must face the problem alone," Ansyaad told the newspaper.

"This man is very dangerous. His presence here would increase the terror threat, not only to Indonesia but to several countries with a presence here," Ansyaad. He also agreed that Indonesia would face difficulties bringing him to justice as the bombings occurred before Indonesia enacted its counter-terrorism laws.

Terrorism experts say the Indonesian authorities' reluctance to get Patek's custody is telling. Since the 2002 attacks, they remind, Indonesia has made counter-terrorism a national priority, arresting hundreds of militants and weakening al-Qaeda-linked networks.

But the threat of militarism persists.

In March, a series of book bombs was sent to four liberal Indonesians - a politician, a counter-terror expert, the chair of a youth organization and a singer. In April, a suicide bomber attacked a security forces' mosque, killing himself and injuring 30 others. In June, Jakarta was put on lock-down for the trial of extremist Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, who, despite being sentenced in connection with the Bali bombings, was greeted like a religious rock star outside the court.

Therefore, the Indonesian authorities rightly worry that Patek's case, like that of Bashir, could become a rallying cry for would-be jihadis. The million-dollar question remains: will the Indonesian authorities be able to penalize Patek once he is extradited to Jakarta?

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More

 
Design by Free WordPress Themes