Cambodia to Try Egyptian, Thai Militant Suspects
Mon January 5, 2004 12:21 AM ET
By Ek Madra
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia is to put on trial an Egyptian and two Thais
held in Cambodia since May on suspicion of links to Southeast Asian radical
Muslim group Jemaah Islamiah, the judge in charge of the case said on Monday.
Egyptian Esam Mohamid Khidr Ali, Hajichiming Abdul Azi and Muhammadyalludin Mading, teachers at a Saudi-backed Islamic school near the capital Phnom Penh, were picked up as part of a wider regional crackdown on suspected Muslim militancy.
"The investigation is now over and we have enough evidence to charge them officially," investigating judge Oun Bunna told Reuters, although he said no trial date had yet been set.
Following the arrests, the trio were held while their case was investigated by a judge, as is customary under Cambodia's French-based legal code.
Some Western and Asian governments accuse Jemaah Islamiah of links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, prime suspects for the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
They also believe Jemaah Islamiah was behind the October 2002 nightclub bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists.
Cambodian police raids last year led to the closure of the al-Mukara school and the expulsion of 28 foreign Muslim teachers and their families. Security sources said the raids were the result of a U.S. intelligence tip-off.
Under Cambodian law, an official charge after an investigating judge's inquiries leads directly to trial.
The suspects' lawyer, Khao Sopha, said his clients had done nothing wrong and had been charged with offences relating to international terrorism which were not even covered by Cambodian law.
He demanded a trial as soon as possible and also criticized authorities for holding the three beyond the statutory six months permitted to the investigating judge.
"They have detained my clients for more than they are allowed to do, and that is unacceptable," Khao Sopha said.
Predominantly Buddhist Cambodia is home to a few hundred thousand ethnic Cham Muslims who have so far remained free of the Islamic militancy which has hit other countries in Southeast Asia.
However, the United States is concerned Saudi-funded Islamic charities might be trying to radicalize the Cham, and make the deeply impoverished nation a haven for militant 'sleeper' cells or suspects on the run.
Hambali, an Indonesian preacher suspected of being Jemaah Islamiah's brains
and bin Laden's regional lieutenant, spent around six months undetected in
a Phnom Penh backpacker hostel before his arrest in Thailand in August, local
security sources said.
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
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