Bali bomb suspect extradited to Indonesia

An alleged mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings was extradited from Pakistan to Indonesia on Thursday, after his arrest in the town where Osama bin Laden was killed, a security official said. Senior counter-terrorism official Ansyaad Mbai confirmed to AFP that Umar Patek had arrived in Indonesia on Thursday morning. A senior police officer who is involved in the extradition process also told AFP on condition of anonymity that Patek "has landed in Indonesia". Patek was the alleged field commander of the coordinated bombings of packed bars and nightclubs on the resort island of Bali which killed 202 people, mostly Western tourists. Pakistan confirmed in March the arrest of the most-wanted Islamic extremist in Southeast Asia. He was detained in the garrison town of Abbottabad, where US Navy SEALs had killed Al-Qaeda leader bin Laden just weeks later. Patek's extradition has been expected, with Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa saying Friday it would happen "soon" and Pakistani officials telling AFP this week it could occur "at any time". "It is up to the Indonesians to intimate to us when they will take him back," a Pakistani official said Wednesday. "The Indonesian authorities sought time to repatriate Patek as they were occupied in other cases back home." Born in 1970, Patek is a suspected member of the Al-Qaeda-linked Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). In addition to the Bali bombings, he is also suspected of involvement in a series of deadly attacks targeting Christians and Westerners in Indonesia dating back to 1999.