Posted on 06/15/2006 4:32:05 PM PDT by PRePublic
Militan cleric Abu Bakar Bashir gestures during a press conference at his residence in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia, Thursday, June 15, 2006. The Freed cleric on Thursday described the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings as "God's will" and encouraged non-Muslim survivors of the attacks to convert to Islam. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)","DITA ALANGKARA", "AP");
Cleric Calls on Bush to Convert to Islam
© 2006 The Associated Press
SOLO, Indonesia — A reputed leader of an al-Qaida-linked terror group blamed for deadly bombings across Indonesia on Thursday accused President Bush and Australia's prime minister of waging wars against Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir also called on Bush and Prime Minister John Howard to convert to Islam, saying it was "the only way to save their souls."
He added that families still grieving after the 2002 Bali blasts that killed many foreigners should also become Muslim to find "salvation and peace."
Bashir, 68, was released from prison Wednesday after completing a 26-month sentence for conspiracy in the Bali bombings that killed 202 people. He spoke Thursday at a hard-line Islamic boarding school that has spawned some of Southeast Asia's deadliest terrorists.
The firebrand cleric declined to directly condemn young men who carry out bombings in Indonesia in the name of Islam, saying he still considered them "holy warriors," because they believed they were defending the oppressed.
But he also said they were misguided and wrong to use bombs in a country at peace. "Why use bombs in a non-conflict zone? Preaching is enough," he said.
Jemaah Islamiyah is accused of church bombings across the world's most populous Muslim nation in 2000, the 2002 attack on the resort island of Bali, attacks in the capital Jakarta in 2003 and 2004, and a triple suicide bombing on Bali last October.
The attacks killed more than 260 people, many of them foreigners, and have thrust Indonesia onto the front line of the global war on terror.
The United States and Australia have expressed disappointment at Bashir's release, but Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono maintained Thursday it did not mean his government was soft on Islamic militants.
"Abu Bakar Bashir was put on trial. He was punished," Yudhoyono said in Jakarta, adding that Indonesia has arrested hundreds of suspected terrorists and sentenced three linked to the 2002 Bali bombings to death.
Bashir, who has never been linked to the preparation or commission of terrorist attacks, was asked Thursday about families still suffering from the Bali blasts.
He said the attacks "were God's will" and that survivors should "convert to Islam" if they wanted to ease their suffering.
He had the same message for Bush and Howard.
Bashir called Bush an "infidel," and said he was happy the American people were starting to realize their president had made a mistake when he decided to wage war on Muslims. He did not elaborate, but was apparently referring to sliding opinion polls.
"I feel sorry for the American people, but it seems now they realize he was wrong," Bashir told reporters who were invited to speak to him on the porch of his modest home inside the al-Mukmin boarding school complex, which he founded in 1972.
Bashir also told Australia, which urged Indonesian authorities to keep a close eye on his activities, not to intervene in his nation's affairs.
"I don't interfere in Australian affairs, and you should not intervene in ours," he said.
Howard sent a strongly worded letter to the Indonesian president on Thursday expressing distress over Bashir's release and urging the government to monitor the cleric's activities because of his links to the Bali bombings, which killed 88 Australians.
Speaking to reporters later, Howard said Bashir's release could affect relations between Australia and Indonesia.
"It's an important issue currently in the relationship and the Indonesians must understand how deeply offended Australians are," said Howard, who is due to meet Yudhoyono later this month in Indonesia.
Bashir's freedom has raised concerns he will energize Indonesia's small Islamic radical fringe by making impassioned speeches at rallies and mosques, but few believe the cleric will play a direct role in terrorism.
Before the Bali blasts, Bashir was chiefly known for his campaign to make his secular nation an Islamic state _ something he said Thursday he would continue to do _ and his vitriolic criticism of the West.
Sidney Jones, a leading international expert on Jemaah Islamiyah, said she did not think Bashir's freedom increased the threat of bombings in Indonesia.
But, she said, "there is no question that his stature has grown in prison and that he's now seen as a symbol of defying the West and the United States in particular.
"For that reason, he will be a very popular speaker among many young Muslim crowds in many parts to Indonesia, including many people who have no interest in violence whatsoever."
How does this POS get off with just two years for helping mass murder 200 people? He should be dead.
Another terrorist quoting the DNC/MSM, God help us.
It's a cult with a death fixation.
Bush should have him shot.
GWB to Bashir: "Why don't you convert to room temperature?"
They ARE darkness. The very embodyment of mindless evil.
Look at the picture of this maniac....
Can't this guy just have an accident? I mean, like in the old days...?
Bashir: Dead man walking/talking?
The next article I see about this "Religion of peace" a$$hole is his obituary!
ping for later image theft
I call on President Bush to convert Islam to ashes.
Mr. Nutjob, meet Mr. MatchKing.
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