ID :
46509
Thu, 02/19/2009 - 19:37
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/46509
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HAMBALI`S CASE NOT DISCUSSED WITH CLINTON
Jakarta, Feb 19 (ANTARA)- Terror suspect Hambali's case was not on the agenda of the meeting between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and visiting US secretary of state Hillary Clinton here on Thursday, a presidential spokesman said.
"It was really not included in the agenda as it is not an urgent national interest," presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said after accompanying the president at the meeting with Clinton.
He said Indonesia was currently facing a financial crisis, energy problems and general elections so that Hambali's case was not considered a priority national interest.
On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda also said Hambali's case was not discussed at his meeting with Clinton because "we have not received information on how the Obama administration will follow up its plan to close down the Guantanamo prison."
"(We do not know yet) whether the detainees will be physically moved to other prisons in the US or whether there will be a selection to determine those to be further processed and those to be released. So we are still waiting for clarification about it," he said.
Hambali alias Encep Nurjaman has been held at Guantanamo since 2003 following his capture in the Thailand. He is believed to be one of the Jamaah Islamiyah terrorist group leaders who played an important role in the first bombing in Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people.
The Guantanamo prison was established in 2002 at the US military base in Cuba to detain people arrested during its war on terror launched after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on US soil.
The controversial military prison at present still holds around 250 terror suspects. Its existence has drawn criticisms from various circles, particularly civil liberty groups because most of the detainees had never been charged.
Only around 20 of the detainees had been charged including five who were accused of helping organize the September 11 attacks.
"It was really not included in the agenda as it is not an urgent national interest," presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said after accompanying the president at the meeting with Clinton.
He said Indonesia was currently facing a financial crisis, energy problems and general elections so that Hambali's case was not considered a priority national interest.
On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda also said Hambali's case was not discussed at his meeting with Clinton because "we have not received information on how the Obama administration will follow up its plan to close down the Guantanamo prison."
"(We do not know yet) whether the detainees will be physically moved to other prisons in the US or whether there will be a selection to determine those to be further processed and those to be released. So we are still waiting for clarification about it," he said.
Hambali alias Encep Nurjaman has been held at Guantanamo since 2003 following his capture in the Thailand. He is believed to be one of the Jamaah Islamiyah terrorist group leaders who played an important role in the first bombing in Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people.
The Guantanamo prison was established in 2002 at the US military base in Cuba to detain people arrested during its war on terror launched after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on US soil.
The controversial military prison at present still holds around 250 terror suspects. Its existence has drawn criticisms from various circles, particularly civil liberty groups because most of the detainees had never been charged.
Only around 20 of the detainees had been charged including five who were accused of helping organize the September 11 attacks.
