Australia Furious At Bali Terrorist’s Early Release
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
JAKARTA, Indonesia – The radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, jailed for giving his blessing to the 2002 Bali nightclub bombing, was freed yesterday in Indonesia.
The Australian prime minister, John Howard, said Australians would be disturbed by the release of the alleged leader of Jemaah Islamiah, a terrorist network. Mr. Howard said he wanted Indonesian politicians to “understand from me on behalf of the government how extremely disappointed, even distressed, millions of Australians will be at the release of Abu Bakar Bashir.”
The Bali bombings, blamed on Jemaah Islamiah, killed 202 mostly foreign tourists, including 88 Australians.
Australia and America had previously criticized Bashir’s 26-month sentence as too lenient.
After being feted as a hero by several hundred loyal radicals who turned up wearing black mujahedeen jackets, the white-robed cleric traveled by car to his hometown of Solo.
