The Jakarta Post
After years in legal limbo, Indonesian Islamic extremist Riduan “Hambali” Isamuddin will be put on trial for his involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings and the 2003 Jakarta Marriott attack, the United States announced on Thursday. US military prosecutors pressed charges against Hambali nearly 18 years after he and two others were captured in Thailand. He has spent more than 14 of the intervening years languishing in the high-security Guantanamo Bay detention camp (Gitmo) in Cuba, a fact that has sparked calls for his extradition to Indonesia. Born as Encep Nurjaman, the Cianjur, Wes Java native was the leader of the Indonesian jihadist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and is believed to have been Al-Qaeda's top representative in Southeast Asia. JI, with support from Al-Qaeda, bombed tourist nightclubs in Bali on Oct. 12, 2002, killing 202. The group was also responsibl...