Abu Bakar Ba’asyir cleared on bomb charges: Aussies angry

SYDNEY, Australia (AP): Victims and relatives of those killed in the 2002 Bali bombings expressed outrage and despair Friday that the terror conviction of Indonesian Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Ba’asyir was overturned, and Australia’s top police officer warned it could inspire more attacks.

“The whole world knows he is responsible, the government know she is responsible, he’s going to kill more people without even thinking,” Spike Stewart, whose son Anthony was among the 202people killed in the Oct. 12 suicide attacks on nightclubs on the resort island, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Ba’asyir, 69, is the alleged spiritual leader of the Southeast Asian extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah that is blamed for a string of deadly attacks since 2000. He was convicted of conspiracy in the Bali bombings, and served 2 1/2 years in prison before being freed in June after the government shortened his sentence.

An Indonesian Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the conspiracy conviction on appeal.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he was upset by the decision, and Australian Federal Police chief Mick Keelty, whose force helped investigate the bombings, said he had “no doubt whatsoever” Ba’asyir was involved in training the culprits and approving the bombings

“From the intelligence perspective, as opposed to an evidentiary perspective, he clearly was a key figure,” Keeltysaid. “He clearly was consulted by the bombers before they carried out their acts.”

But he conceded the case against Ba’asyir was largely circumstantial, and said Indonesian authorities had done their best to prosecute the cleric. Eighty-eight Australians died in the 2002 Bali bombings.