Indonesian terror suspect paraded in front of cameras as sign of war on terrorism success

The Associated Press ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 05/05/2008 5:31 PM  |  World

Indonesia paraded a suspected militant with links to Asia's most wanted man in front of the media Monday in an apparent attempt to trumpet the country's successes in the war on terrorism.

Aslam, who was arrested last month, has denied police accusations that he helped plan triple suicide attacks on restaurants on the resort island of Bali that killed 20 people in 2005. The one-word name Aslam is among several aliases police said the man went by.

The 27-year-old said he met several times with Malaysian militant leader Noordin Mohammad Top, who asked him to translate militant tracts from Arabic into Indonesian and to post them on the Internet.

Top is accused of playing a key role in the Bali bombings and in three earlier attacks on Western targets that killed 220 people.

On Monday, Aslam's hands were cuffed as two rifle-toting police officers wearing balaclavas presented him to reporters, photographers and TV news crews at police headquarters in the capital, Jakarta.

The visible signs of security might have been aimed at ramping up drama for the cameras more than anything else, however. No one checked reporters' identities or searched them before they entered police headquarters.

Indonesian police have occasionally paraded other terror suspects before the media, either to show off successes or to try persuading other militants to give themselves up.

Soft-spoken and looking relaxed, Aslam gave journalists brief answers to about a dozen questions concerning his activities.

He said he disagreed with al-Qaida-style bombings of civilian targets.

"If you look at it from the perspective of Islamic law, it is a long debate, but presently my conviction is that it is wrong," he said.

Aslam has not been formally charged but was being held on suspicion of violating anti-terror laws that carry the maximum penalty of death. Police refused to talk about any evidence they
might have against him.

Indonesia has arrested about 200 militants in recent years and several face execution or have been sentenced to long prison terms. There has not been a major attack since 2005 - a lull most experts and foreign governments say is because of the crackdown. (**)

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