How about this choice - Dec. 27, 2002 - Islamic magazine names Indonesian terror suspect its 'man of the year'
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JAKARTA, Indonesia
The alleged spiritual head of the terror group blamed for the Oct. 12 Bali bombings has been named "Man of the Year" by an Indonesian Islamic magazine.
Abu Bakar Bashir's "charisma" and "stand against the United States" were the main reasons why Sabili magazine honored him in its December edition, its editor Yogi Utomo said Friday.
Bashir, a 64-year-old Muslim cleric who runs a religious boarding school on Java island, is currently in police detention in Jakarta over a string of church bombs in 2000 that killed 19 people.
Intelligence officials in Southeast Asia allege he heads Jemaah Islamiyah, the al-Qaida linked terror group suspected in the Bali bombings that killed 192 people, mostly foreign tourists.
They haven't directly linked Bashir to the Bali attacks.
Bashir has denied any wrongdoing, and claims that Jemaah Islamiyah does not even exist.
Sabili magazine typically features fiery articles on the alleged injustices by western governments on Muslims worldwide, on efforts to impose Islamic law in Indonesia and advice columns for young Muslims.
The magazine, its title means "My Path," sells up to 85,000 copies a month and is distributed all over Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.
Editor Utomo said Bashir's campaign for the imposition of Islamic law was another reason he was honored.
"So far we have not had any complaints from our readers," said Utomo of Bashir's selection.
Last week, Time newsmagazine named Indonesian police Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika, who is heading the Bali bomb investigation, its Asian Newsmaker of the Year for his work in uncovering Jemaah Islamiyah's alleged role in the bombings. |
