Word: megawati
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...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...
...surprisingly, Ba'asyir's, and JI's, apparent untouchable status has set off alarm bells in Washington. U.S. calls for action against Islamic militants in Indonesia have been ratcheted up in recent weeks. President Bush discussed the issue with Megawati in a Sept. 16 phone call; the next day, the director for Asian affairs of the National Security Council, Karen Brooks, made a quiet two-day visit to Jakarta. While those conversations amounted to polite encouragement, the U.S. has also been using the threat of harsher tactics to bring Megawati into line. Washington is threatening to officially classify...
...hostage to her country's byzantine politics, Megawati seems damned no matter which way she moves. Regardless of how much Washington increases the pressure, the complex of interlocking forces on which Megawati's power depends seems virtually certain to preclude any action on her part. Not even allegations that al-Faruq and Ba'asyir plotted to assassinate Megawati have stirred her. If she takes steps against Ba'asyir and other JI members believed to be at large in Indonesia, she risks alienating the Muslim majority, whose support she desperately needs if she and her party are to be returned...
...Manila with plastic explosives and detonator cords in their luggage. Despite the evidence, two of the men were released due to pressure from Jakarta, official sources in the capital say. The Philippines came close to releasing the third man, Agus Dwikarna, at which point U.S. officials directly intervened with Megawati (as well as with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo) to warn against allowing the release. Dwikarna was later tried and sentenced to 17 years in prison for possessing explosives...
...Megawati is a moderate too, but even if the President were to allow a crackdown on Islamic radicals, there is no guarantee that the military and police would cooperate. A combination of Islamic sympathy, interservice rivalry, greed and simple incompetence has hobbled similar past attempts. In a series of failed operations in recent years, law enforcement officers have allowed their fellow Indonesians suspected of terrorist activity to slip away...