Source: Washington Post
BALI, INDONESIA, January 12, 2003: In difficult moments, I Made Pastika hikes briskly up a mint-green mountain toward a cool, silent place above the clouds. At the summit, after a two-hour climb, the Indonesian investigator in charge of solving the worst case of international terrorism since Sept. 11, 2001, sits cross-legged before an ornate, centuries-old temple carved of white stone, the highest Hindu temple in Bali. And then he prays. “I go there every time that I feel I need spiritual support, every time I’m facing a serious job,” the Bali native said in a cell phone interview from the mountainside. “It gives me strength.” A disarmingly direct official, Pastika blends respect for Western investigative techniques with reverence for his Eastern spiritual roots. His efforts have won him a measure of acclaim. With prosecutors preparing to charge the first suspects, Pastika has been praised by Indonesian civic leaders as well as foreign diplomats and human rights activists. Australia’s deputy ambassador, Neil Mules, said Pastika is “an example of the best that Indonesia has to offer.”