Australia to hunt 'people smuggler'

Australia is taking measures to stem immigration

The Australian Government has said it will pursue the alleged head of a refugee-smuggling racket when he is released from an Indonesian jail on Wednesday.

Abu Quassey - an Egyptian national - is accused of operating a vessel that sank off Indonesia last year, leading to the drowning of 353 people on board.

353 people drowned when the ship sank

The Indonesian Government has refused to hand over Mr Quassey, who is in prison for violating visa regulations despite four requests from the Australian authorities for his extradition.

"Should the Indonesians deport him on 1 January ... then of course that opens up a whole range of options," Australian Justice Minister Chris Ellison told Radio Australia.

"But I can't canvass what options we would be pursuing. That would be signalling our shots to Mr Abu Quassey," he added.

Australian police say the evidence for his latest arrest warrant comes from the 50 or so Iraqi and Afghan survivors of the boat sinking.

But they have been unable to prove the vessel sank in Indonesian or international waters, something which may have led to Mr Quassey's extradition on murder charges.

Key information

"Quassey ... could be a key to providing highly significant information about people-smuggling operations," AFP news agency quoted Australian Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett as saying.

"If Quassey is allowed to walk free there is nothing to stop him or others, again, taking asylum seekers' savings, forcing them onto an unseaworthy vessel and sending them to their deaths," he added.

People-smuggling is not a crime in Indonesia but in Australia it carries a sentence of 10-20 years in prison.

There are fears Mr Quassey will disappear upon his release with the help of his smuggling network.

Former Australian diplomat Tony Kevin told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio he "will find a way of leaving Indonesia in such a way that he does not pass through those Interpol airports".