FOREIGN Minister Alexander Downer has rejected fresh claims about the Bali bombings by firebrand Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir as "preposterous". Mr Downer also said he was happy with the way Indonesia was monitoring the movements of Bashir, despite the cleric suggesting he faced no travel restrictions. Bashir, convicted of having prior knowledge of the 2002 attacks which killed 202 people including 88 Australians, now claims US ' top spy agency was involved in the attacks.| “Bashir claimed the device that killed most people in the attack was a CIA “micro-nuclear” bomb...” |
Mr Downer said the cleric's comments should not be believed. “It's a free country and he can say what he likes, and of course some of the comments that he made yesterday were fairly preposterous. I don't think anyone would much believe anything he was saying,” Mr Downer said on ABC radio.
Mr Downer said he would be “very surprised” if Indonesian authorities had not restricted Bashir's travel. “We're happy with the way the Indonesian Government is approaching that issue,” he said. “The proof of this is that Abu Bakar Bashir hasn't left Indonesia at all.”
While Indonesia did not comment publicly on the way it was handling Bashir, Mr Downer said he thought Jakarta had done “a good job”.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd called on the Government to ensure Bashir was not able to travel to Australia. ``When it comes to (Bashir's) future freedom of operation, the opposition has already said on many occasions that the Indonesian Government should be asked to put the tightest possible restrictions on him within Indonesia and withdraw his passport,'' Mr Rudd said in Sydney. Asked if the federal government should refuse Bashir entry to Australia, he replied: ``Absolutely''.