Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa made the statement in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Wednesday following an information on the arrest of Umar Patek by Pakistani authorities.
"If I am asked to confirm the information, I cannot do so because the most important thing for us is not merely about Umar Patek`s arrest but our effort to uncover the terrorist ring behind him," Marty said.
Marty and his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd were in Bali to co-chair the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime.
According to Marty, the news about the arrest of Umar Patek (40) in Pakistan was certainly an important subject in eradicating terrorists and their networks.
"Please keep in mind that up to this stage we should not ignore operational matters. We have international cooperation with Pakistan and thus it can allow Umar Patek to be extradited," Marty said.
Meanwhile, responding to the news of Patek`s arrest, Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd even confirmed that it was true.
Australia felt the bitterness of the Bali Bombings by Amrozi-Imam Samudra, Noordin M Top-Azahari pair from Malaysia, and Dulmatin-Patek.
Umar Patek was involved in the October 12, 2002 bombings at Paddy`s Cafe and Sari Club in the island resort of Bali that killed at least 202 people, most of them Australian tourists.
Ever since, Australian involvement in the response to terrorist networks in Indonesia got even stronger.
"We are still an important friend of Indonesia in the eradication of terrorists," Rudd said, adding that the arrest of Patek in Pakistan proved that terrorist networks could be eradicated.
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Editor: AA Ariwibowo
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
