Bali Suspect at Gitmo May Be Tried in DC

The Obama administration is considering holding the criminal trial of alleged Bali bombing mastermind Riduan Isamuddin in Washington, DC, as the first of many terror trials in the nation’s capital. The proposal is far enough along that authorities are discussing the intense security such an event would necessitate, officials tell the AP.

Isamuddin, also known as Hambali, was allegedly Osama bin Laden’s point man in Indonesia, connecting al-Qaeda with Jemaah Islamiyah, the local terror group blamed for the bombing. He was captured in August 2003 and has been in Guantanamo ever since. A Justice Department spokesman says the attorney general hasn’t even decided whether to hold Isamuddin’s trial in federal court, “let alone on where such a case would be tried if it were.” (More Riduan Isamuddin stories.)