Indonesian Muslim hate preacher Abu Bakir Bashir in terror arrest

Indonesian police have arrested the controversial Muslim preacher Abu Bakir Bashir on terror charges.

Officials said they had proof he was linked a training camp recently discovered in Aceh, West Sumatra.

Mr Bashir is known for fiery anti-Western rhetoric but proof of direct engagement in attacks has been elusive.

The discovery in February of training camps in Aceh showed the opening of a new front in the country’s often successful campaign against extremism.

The anti-terror police unit Detachment 88 detained Mr Bashir because of links to Islamic militant training camps, a government official said.

He is believed to be the head of a hardline Islamist group, the Jema’ah Ansharut Tauhid.
[…]

Founder of the Ngruki boarding school in East Java, he was the spiritual adviser to young men who went on to mount the Bali bomb attacks of 2002 which killed 202 people.

Mr Bashir was released from prison in 2006 after serving several years for involvement with Jemaah Islamiah, the group responsible for the Bali bombings.

His history of activism goes back to the 1980s when then-President Suharto imprisoned him for advocating that Indonesia should be an Islamic state.
[…more…]