Free Republic

An outraged Michael Jackson has signed a deal with Fox television to air his rebuttal to the controversial documentary by Martin Bashir. Fox said it would air a two-hour special on February 20 featuring Jackson's own footage of Bashir, who is seen telling him: "Your relationship with your children is spectacular." Jackson's attempt to turn the tables on Bashir, who he accused of betrayal, follows a new furore over the self-styled King of Pop's relationship with his own three young children, and his defence of sharing his bed with other kids. Bashir's documentary drew huge television audiences in both Britain...

Australian accused of plot to bomb embassies An Australian man charged after a series of counter-terrorism raids this month allegedly planned to bomb Israeli diplomatic buildings in Canberra and Sydney. The 49-year-old man, named as Jack Roche, was arrested in Perth late last night over an alleged plan to bomb diplomatic posts in Australia. The Australian Federal Police said he faced a charge of conspiracy to bomb diplomatic premises in Australia when he appears in the Perth Court of Petty Sessions this morning. AFP general manager national operations Ben McDevitt said his arrest was not connected to the Bali bombings....

THE chief suspect in the Bali bomb blasts was visited three times during the past year by cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged spiritual leader of banned terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah who has for three weeks denied any involvement in the atrocity. Neighbours in suspect Amrozio's tiny East Javan village, and the director of the Islamic school where he prayed, confirmed to The Australian yesterday that Mr Bashir had visited Mr Amrozio's mechanical workshop each time he came to town. In a day of sudden developments, Indonesian and Australian police confirmed last night that Mr Amrozio had confessed to a...

INDONESIAN police yesterday began questioning militant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir over a series of church bombings and an alleged plot to kill President Megawati Sukarnoputri. A police official in charge of the investigation said Bashir, the alleged leader of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) network that has been blamed for the Bali bombing, was being questioned at a police hospital in Jakarta where he was taken on Monday. Irfan Awwas, one of Bashir's aides, quoted the 64-year-old cleric as saying: "I am ready for questioning – they can even take me to court now." Police investigation chief Jeldy Ramadhan said...

JAKARTA, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Indonesian police are holding militant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, a terror suspect, for at least 24 hours, a police official said on Saturday. Bashir had been scheduled for questioning in Jakarta on Saturday in relation to a bombing in 2000, but he was admitted to hospital on Friday in Solo and aides and doctors said he would be unable to travel on Saturday. Although Bashir is still in the hospital, National Police director general criminal Arianto Sutadi said, speaking by phone from Solo, said: "I captured him. Now he is under police custody."...