Karachi, Oct 01: Indonesian investigators were in Pakistan today questioning the detained younger brother of Hambali, al-Qaida's alleged top agent in Southeast Asia, Pakistani and Indonesian officials said. A four-member Indonesian team was questioning Rusman Gunawan, an Indonesian who was arrested along with 16 religious students from Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar in Karachi on September 20, said a foreign ministry spokesman, Masood Khan.
Indonesian Police, intelligence and foreign ministry officials took part in the meeting, which was held at an undisclosed location in this southern port city and lasted for about an hour and a half, an Indonesian consulate official said on condition of anonymity. The team wants to determine whether Gunawan and his associates have any links to the al-Qaida terror network or Jemaah Islamiyah, a militant group blamed for last October's bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, which killed 202 mainly western tourists, an Indonesian official said on condition of anonymity.
Jemaah Islamiyah is also suspected in the August bombing of the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta that killed 12 people. Pakistani authorities believe that Gunawan has been running Jemaah Islamiyah's branch in Pakistan. The suspects are still being interrogated but Pakistan ``will allow Indonesian experts to meet their countrymen,'' Khan said.
Last Thursday, Indonesian news agency reported that Gunawan said he had sent US$50,000 to Hambali. Bureau Report