7 Jul 2011

Extradition of Bali bombing suspect urged

6:03 am on 7 July 2011

Australia is being asked to consider extraditing one of the accused masterminds of the 2002 Bali bombings.

An Indonesian official says Umar Patek would be better off dealt with in a country like Australia.

The ABC reports Indonesia appears reluctant to put him on trial because it would increase the risk of terrorist attacks there and provide Muslim extremists in Indonesia with a new figurehead.

Umar Patek, 41, is being held in Pakistan after being arrested there in March in the same town where Osama Bin Laden was found and killed.

He is suspected of being the field coordinator of the 2002 nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.