The Jakarta Post,
Suspected mosque bomber mentally ill, says Ba'asyir
Prominent terrorist defendant and firebrand Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Baasyir says the alleged suicide bomber responsible for the blast at a mosque at Cirebon Police Headquarters in West Java on Friday may have suffered mental illness.
“I've clearly never seen any bases in the religion for such acts. If those people insist that there is, then please come and discuss the matter with me. How could one launch a bomb attack on people performing prayers? That is obviously against the religion,” Baasyir said while waiting for a hearing in his trial at South Jakarta District Court on Monday.
He added that he agreed with another Muslim cleric who previously suggested the suicide bomber may have been be mentally ill.
“A youth who understands his religion wouldn't do such things. If [the alleged suicide bomber] had a group, I suspect the group is an enemy of Islam that used him, indoctrinated him, taught him how to carry out the bomb attack and to used it to create confusion.
“That's my suspicion, because [the bombing of the mosque] has no basis in [Islam],” Baasyir said, as quoted by tribunnews.com.
( I wonder if the Bali bombing and all other terrorist acts perpetrated in Indonesia qualify for the same reasoning?)
wo 20 apr 2011 - 22:46