Amir MirSaturday, April 16, 2011
LAHORE: Having arrested one of the most wanted al-Qaeda-linked Indonesian terror suspects, Umar Patek, who was involved in the 2002 Bali suicide bombing, the Pakistan authorities are in a quandary over the question of his extradition, primarily because he is not only wanted in his own country on terrorism charges but also in the United States, Australia and the Philippines.
Carrying one million US dollars head money, Umar Patek, a key leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI or Islamic Group in Arabic), was arrested along with his wife, also an Indonesian national, on January 25, 2011 from Abbottabad district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province following a bloody gun battle with Pakistani law enforcement agencies.
However, the Pakistani authorities made public his arrest two months later on March 30, 2011. A slightly built 40-year-old Patek is being treated in an Army-run hospital for bullet wounds to his legs. Patek’s arrest in Pakistan became possible in the wake of a tip off by US intelligence sleuths which 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 another terror attack to commemorate ten years of the 9/11 terror attacks.
According to well-informed circles in the Pakistani establishment, two Frenchmen with alleged links to Umar Patek, whose arrest from Lahore has been made public on April 14, were in fact arrested on January 23, 2011 after meeting with an al-Qaeda-linked Pakistani national, Tahir Shehzad. The Frenchmen are suspected of being part of a terrorist group responsible for the Bali bombing.
The Frenchmen wanted to travel with Patek to the North Waziristan region where al-Qaeda’s top command is allegedly based. One of the detained French citizens is of Pakistani origin and the other is 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 the hilly town on January 23, he was followed and finally arrested with the two French militants, whom he had picked up from the Allama Iqbal International Airport there.
According to well-informed interior ministry sources in Islamabad, the Pakistan authorities 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 the American FBI wants him for having killed seven American nationals in the Bali bombing and also because of his links to al-Qaeda that is blamed for the 9/11 attacks. According to the FBI’s Reward for Justice Website, Umar Patek had served as the assistant for the field coordinator of the Bali bombing which killed 202 people. Similarly, Australia too wants his custody for having killed 90 Australian nationals in the Bali suicide attack. And last but not the least, the Philippines want Patek for planning several terrorist attacks in the country with the help of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a separatist group active in the southern Philippines.
According to information provided to Pakistani authorities by their Indonesian counterparts, Patek had fled Indonesia and joined up with fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines where he led a Jemaah Islamiyah training camp in Mindanao. Born in 1970, Patek returned to Indonesia sometime in 2010 to help establish al-Qaeda training camp in Aceh area of Indonesia, located on the northern tip of the Sumatra Island.
But the Indonesian officials have no clue how Patek managed to reach Pakistan. As per the Pakistani intelligence input, Patek had entered Pakistan via Bangkok, Thailand to meet with senior al-Qaeda leadership and discuss funding, recruiting and future terror operations. Commanders from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al-Qaeda in Iraq, al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb, and Jemaah Islamiyah are sighted in Pakistan from time to time. Jemaah Islamiyah, which has deep links with the al-Qaeda core group led by Osama bin Laden, has a jehadi vision and wants to establish an Islamic state in the region, encompassing Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Southern Philippines and Southern Thailand.
As far as Patek’s future is concerned, well informed circles in Pakistani establishment say the Indonesian authorities are not very keen to get his custody and actually want Islamabad to hand him over to the United States. According to them, the Indonesian government would face a dilemma if Patek is sent there to face terrorism charges, mainly because of the fact that the anti terrorism law in Indonesia was only enacted in 2003 which can’t be applied retroactively to punish Patek for the Bali bombing which took place in October 2002.
Therefore, the Pakistani establishment sources say, the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) of Indonesia has requested Islamabad to hand over Umar Patek to the United States, as had been the case with his alleged co-conspirator in the Bali bombing, Riduan Isamuddin alias Hambali who was arrested in Thailand in 2003, but was later flown to the United States.
Isamuddin alias Hambali is currently lingering in the US-run terrorist detention offshore facility in Guantanamo Bay, along with hundreds of other terrorist suspects linked to al-Qaeda. Both Hambali and Patek allegedly received their military training in Afghanistan with al-Qaeda, and are said to have been involved in plans to launch the 2002 Bali bombing. 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. Another option pertaining to Patek’s future is to have him stay in Pakistan until the end of 2011, which would give all parties more time to decide what to do with him. But the Pakistani establishment circles do not rule out the possibility of his extradition to the United States in the near future.
Carrying one million US dollars head money, Umar Patek, a key leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI or Islamic Group in Arabic), was arrested along with his wife, also an Indonesian national, on January 25, 2011 from Abbottabad district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province following a bloody gun battle with Pakistani law enforcement agencies.
However, the Pakistani authorities made public his arrest two months later on March 30, 2011. A slightly built 40-year-old Patek is being treated in an Army-run hospital for bullet wounds to his legs. Patek’s arrest in Pakistan became possible in the wake of a tip off by US intelligence sleuths which 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 another terror attack to commemorate ten years of the 9/11 terror attacks.
According to well-informed circles in the Pakistani establishment, two Frenchmen with alleged links to Umar Patek, whose arrest from Lahore has been made public on April 14, were in fact arrested on January 23, 2011 after meeting with an al-Qaeda-linked Pakistani national, Tahir Shehzad. The Frenchmen are suspected of being part of a terrorist group responsible for the Bali bombing.
The Frenchmen wanted to travel with Patek to the North Waziristan region where al-Qaeda’s top command is allegedly based. One of the detained French citizens is of Pakistani origin and the other is 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 the hilly town on January 23, he was followed and finally arrested with the two French militants, whom he had picked up from the Allama Iqbal International Airport there.
According to well-informed interior ministry sources in Islamabad, the Pakistan authorities 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 the American FBI wants him for having killed seven American nationals in the Bali bombing and also because of his links to al-Qaeda that is blamed for the 9/11 attacks. According to the FBI’s Reward for Justice Website, Umar Patek had served as the assistant for the field coordinator of the Bali bombing which killed 202 people. Similarly, Australia too wants his custody for having killed 90 Australian nationals in the Bali suicide attack. And last but not the least, the Philippines want Patek for planning several terrorist attacks in the country with the help of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a separatist group active in the southern Philippines.
According to information provided to Pakistani authorities by their Indonesian counterparts, Patek had fled Indonesia and joined up with fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines where he led a Jemaah Islamiyah training camp in Mindanao. Born in 1970, Patek returned to Indonesia sometime in 2010 to help establish al-Qaeda training camp in Aceh area of Indonesia, located on the northern tip of the Sumatra Island.
But the Indonesian officials have no clue how Patek managed to reach Pakistan. As per the Pakistani intelligence input, Patek had entered Pakistan via Bangkok, Thailand to meet with senior al-Qaeda leadership and discuss funding, recruiting and future terror operations. Commanders from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al-Qaeda in Iraq, al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb, and Jemaah Islamiyah are sighted in Pakistan from time to time. Jemaah Islamiyah, which has deep links with the al-Qaeda core group led by Osama bin Laden, has a jehadi vision and wants to establish an Islamic state in the region, encompassing Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Southern Philippines and Southern Thailand.
As far as Patek’s future is concerned, well informed circles in Pakistani establishment say the Indonesian authorities are not very keen to get his custody and actually want Islamabad to hand him over to the United States. According to them, the Indonesian government would face a dilemma if Patek is sent there to face terrorism charges, mainly because of the fact that the anti terrorism law in Indonesia was only enacted in 2003 which can’t be applied retroactively to punish Patek for the Bali bombing which took place in October 2002.
Therefore, the Pakistani establishment sources say, the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) of Indonesia has requested Islamabad to hand over Umar Patek to the United States, as had been the case with his alleged co-conspirator in the Bali bombing, Riduan Isamuddin alias Hambali who was arrested in Thailand in 2003, but was later flown to the United States.
Isamuddin alias Hambali is currently lingering in the US-run terrorist detention offshore facility in Guantanamo Bay, along with hundreds of other terrorist suspects linked to al-Qaeda. Both Hambali and Patek allegedly received their military training in Afghanistan with al-Qaeda, and are said to have been involved in plans to launch the 2002 Bali bombing. 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. Another option pertaining to Patek’s future is to have him stay in Pakistan until the end of 2011, which would give all parties more time to decide what to do with him. But the Pakistani establishment circles do not rule out the possibility of his extradition to the United States in the near future.
(source:thenews.com.pk)
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