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US promises Indonesian Police direct access to Hambali
Jakarta, Aug 28: The United States has told Indonesian Police that they will be allowed to question top terror suspect Hambali, the foreign ministry said today.
Jakarta, Aug 28: The United States has told Indonesian Police that they will be allowed to question top terror suspect Hambali, the foreign ministry said today.
US ambassador Ralph Boyce told Police Chief General Da'i Bachtiar yesterday that Indonesian officers would be given direct access to Hambali, foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said.
Hambali was arrested in Thailand on August 11 and is now in US custody at a secret location.
Natalegawa did not say when officers would be allowed to interrogate Hambali but said the us had "in principle" agreed to such an arrangement.
Hambali, an Indonesian also known as Riduan Isamuddin, is al-Qaeda's suspected point man in Asia and the alleged operations chief of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) -- a Southeast Asian terror network blamed for bombings in Bali, a blast at a Jakarta hotel this month and a string of other attacks.
He is also wanted for questioning in Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.
Police say Hambali, 39, was involved in 39 bombings in eight Indonesian cities between August 2000 and the Bali blasts in October 2002, which killed 202 people. Indonesia has asked that he be handed over eventually for trial.
Last year the US allowed Indonesian Police to question senior al Qaeda operative Omar al-Faruq, who was detained in Indonesia and flown to an undisclosed destination.
He was believed held at the US base at Bagram in Afghanistan at the time.
Bureau Report
US ambassador Ralph Boyce told Police Chief General Da'i Bachtiar yesterday that Indonesian officers would be given direct access to Hambali, foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said.
Hambali was arrested in Thailand on August 11 and is now in US custody at a secret location.
Natalegawa did not say when officers would be allowed to interrogate Hambali but said the us had "in principle" agreed to such an arrangement.
Hambali, an Indonesian also known as Riduan Isamuddin, is al-Qaeda's suspected point man in Asia and the alleged operations chief of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) -- a Southeast Asian terror network blamed for bombings in Bali, a blast at a Jakarta hotel this month and a string of other attacks.
He is also wanted for questioning in Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.
Police say Hambali, 39, was involved in 39 bombings in eight Indonesian cities between August 2000 and the Bali blasts in October 2002, which killed 202 people. Indonesia has asked that he be handed over eventually for trial.
Last year the US allowed Indonesian Police to question senior al Qaeda operative Omar al-Faruq, who was detained in Indonesia and flown to an undisclosed destination.
He was believed held at the US base at Bagram in Afghanistan at the time.
Bureau Report