Word: cleric
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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ARRESTED. ABU QATADA, 42, Islamic cleric believed to be a key figure in the al-Qaeda network; during an armed raid on his hideout in London. Often described as Osama bin Laden's ambassador in Europe, he has been linked to shoe bomber Richard Reid and accused 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui...
...linked to al-Qaeda were active in the country. (The British and Australian governments denied allegations they had been told about a possible attack in Bali.) President Megawati Sukarnoputri's administration had also repeatedly snubbed requests from Malaysia and Singapore to arrest and extradite Abubakar Ba'asyir, a radical cleric who is said to lead the extremist Jemaah Islamiah (JI) - the group the U.S. suspects of being behind the Bali bombing. The day before he was due for interrogation, Ba'asyir fainted at a press conference and checked into a hospital. He was arrested anyway. Indonesian officials then said they...
...Megawati stand up to this American "propaganda." A recent TIME report caused consternation in Jakarta by revealing that the CIA interrogation of confessed al-Qaeda operative Omar al-Faruq, a Kuwaiti whose role was to liaise with Indonesian groups, had linked JI and specifically Abu Bakr Bashir, a charismatic cleric alleged to be JI's spiritual leader (a charge he denies; in fact he denies that JI exists) with terror plots. Bashir denies any connection with violence, but is openly supportive of bin Laden and al-Qaeda. And he blamed the Bali blast on the U.S., accusing it of trying...
...Hatred is a powerful motivator. Until the clerics made common cause against America, the six hard-line party leaders were rivals. They stormed each other's mosques and split hairs over ideological disputes dating back to Islam's early days. Their differences were stark: some worship at the tombs of local Sufi saints; others dismiss that practice as blasphemy. Most of the parties want their women veiled from head to toe, although more liberal groups argue that it ought to be the woman's choice. The personalities of the parties' leaders have also clashed. Qazi Hussain Ahmed from the Jamaat...
...putting Indonesia?and particularly Megawati?in this bind is Abubakar Ba'asyir, the Muslim cleric who is allegedly the spiritual and political leader of JI. As TIME reported last week, the U.S. interrogation of Omar al-Faruq, a militant who has confessed to being al-Qaeda's Southeast Asian point man, revealed that he and Ba'asyir had planned to bomb American embassies and consulates in the region the week of the first anniversary of Sept. 11. Despite this and related disclosures that indict him as at least a suspect, Ba'asyir (who has denied these accusations) remains free, openly...