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Home  » News » Bali 'bomber' handed over to Indonesia by Pak

Bali 'bomber' handed over to Indonesia by Pak

Source: PTI
August 11, 2011 13:55 IST
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Pakistan has handed over Al Qaeda linked terrorist Umar Patek, the alleged mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, to Indonesia, more than six months after he was arrested in the garrison city of Abbottabad.

Fouty-one-year-old Patek -- who had a $ 1 million bounty on his head when Pakistani intelligence operatives captured him on January 25 in Abbottabad, the same town where a covert United States raid killed Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden on May 2 -- was flown out of Pakistan on a special aircraft of the Indonesian government, media reports said on Thursday.

The unnamed Federal Investigation Agency officials were quoted as saying that Patek had been handed over to Indonesian authorities through Jakarta's mission in Islamabad. The terrorist was sent to Indonesia after Pakistani authorities completed their investigation and finished interrogating him, one official said.

Since Patek had entered Pakistan illegally, he was deported to his country of origin, where he is wanted for his involvement in the Bali bombings of October 2002, the official said.

In Jakarta, Indonesia's counter-terrorism agency chief Ansyaad Mbai confirmed that Patek had arrived in the country this morning and was expected to be put on trial on terrorism charges. Patek was being held at a detention facility, Mbai said.

Patek is expected to face trial for several attacks, including the Bali bombings that killed 202 people and the Christmas Eve church bombings that claimed 19 lives in 2000. Reports have suggested that Patek was in Abbottabad to plan terrorist acts to coincide with the 10th anniversary of 9/11 attacks in the US. There were also reports that Patek had gone to Abbottabad to meet bin Laden.

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