HTML pages
designed &
maintained by
Alifuru67
Copyright ©
1999/2001 -
1364283024
& 1367286044
|
|
|||||
|
|
||||
Radical Blasts
Megawati wants to reassure the U.S. of her support, but growing Islamic opposition at home puts her in a bind
By WARREN CARAGATA
On her U.S. tour, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri hit all the right notes in assuring her hosts the world's largest Muslim nation stands with them in its war on terror. In Houston, she donned a cowboy hat and told investors her government would protect their Indonesian interests. In New York, she called those who died in the World Trade Center attack martyrs to American democracy. The message to Americans back in Indonesia, however, was decidedly less positive. Unhindered by police, Islamic militants in Solo, in central Java, visited several hotels, warning that U.S. citizens would be run out of town if Washington attacks Afghanistan. Across the country, radical groups threatened holy war against the United States and its allies.
Until this week, such calls could be dismissed as the rantings of the radical fringe. But on Tuesday, the Indonesian Ulemas Council, the country's highest Islamic authority, weighed in with a warning to the United States against military action in Afghanistan and included its own nuanced call for jihad. That pronouncement threatened to undo all of Megawati's efforts over the past two months to restore confidence among overseas investors. There is already talk that a Jakarta meeting of Indonesia's major international donors planned for early November could be postponed, and some foreigners are investigating sending their children to schools in Singapore. "Everybody is exercising a lot more caution," said one American businessman. "Everybody wants to keep a low profile."
Faced with what some fear is a rise of militant Islam in Indonesia, and alleged connections between radical domestic groups and Osama bin Laden's network, the U.S. has asked the Indonesian government to tighten security at its embassy compound. On Friday, U.S. ambassador Robert Gelbard held an extraordinary security briefing for U.S. citizens. The embassy issued a warning to the approximately 10,000 U.S. citizens in the country to be on alert. "Americans in Indonesia should maintain a low profile, vary routes and times for all required travel, and treat mail and packages from unfamiliar sources with suspicion," it said. Not only Americans are under threat. One hard-line group, the Muslim Defenders Front, said Japan and other U.S. allies could be hit. British ambassador Richard Gozney says he has held talks with the police about protecting Westerners. "There is anxiety among us," he said.
But some diplomats complain privately that the government seems hesitant to crack down on radical groups, despite calls from senior officials for tougher police action. Part of the explanation is that Jakarta fears alienating even moderate Muslims. But inaction is also related to police incompetence and fears they will be accused of violating human rights. "The rules of engagement may have changed, but the police don't understand them," says Dharmawan Ronodipuro, once a spokesman for former president Abdurrahman Wahid. "They can't even manage traffic."
The Ulemas Council hasn't gone as far as other groups, and it did condemn the Sept. 11 attacks as well as recent threats against Westerners. But the group used the language of holy war in calling for the U.S. to eschew any military attacks. "We call on Muslims in the world for jihad in the path of Allah should aggression by the U.S. and its allies against Afghanistan and the Islamic world occur," it said. Amidhan, one of its top chairmen, told ASIAWEEK a jihad doesn't necessarily mean armed attacks on the U.S. or allies. "We may give some aid to Afghanistan for food and medicine and other needs but not armed forces," he says. "We are not at that level yet." While he condemns the anti-American sweep in Solo, he says he can understand such threats because Indonesian Muslims are angered by reports of attacks on Muslims in the U.S. and Australia.
The council's views will be circulated among the faithful at Friday prayers at more than 600,000 mosques across the country. Former presidential aide Dharmawan says the statement surprised him. "It would be very difficult to say it represents the broad Muslim view," he says. Most Indonesian Muslims are more concerned about "how to get along in their daily life."
Increased foreign investment and more aid from the U.S. could help improve the lives of ordinary Indonesians. But Megawati's attempts to draw closer to the U.S. will be complicated by domestic politics. Dewi Fortuna Anwar, once an adviser to former president B.J. Habibie, says comments by Indonesians on Washington's reaction to the attacks have been universally critical. "I'm particularly concerned for Megawati," Dewi says, noting that Muslim parties had initially opposed her presidency and doubt her commitment to Islam.
The most immediate threat to the stability of the country may come from Laskar Jihad, Indonesia's best-known radical group. The group's leader, Ja'far Umar Thalib, told ASIAWEEK that if the government offers more than lip service to the Americans, Megawati "can start counting the days before she is pushed from power." Ja'far says Laskar's 10,000 warriors would attack Western interests in the event of U.S. retaliation, and that it would target people "with a direct connection to American power." The extent of the attacks would depend on the nature of the U.S. response and religious considerations, he says.
Despite allegations that Laskar is part of bin Laden's terror network, Ja'far says his group refused an offer of help from a bin Laden emissary who visited Indonesia two months ago. "They came to us to ask us to cooperate in a jihad," he says. Ja'far rejected the request because of doubts about the piety of bin Laden, whom he met in Afghanistan when both were fighting the Soviets. "He is very empty about the knowledge of religion," Ja'far says, criticizing bin Laden using suicide bombers, which is against Islam. Local analysts like Dewi and Dharmawan insist that Indonesian Muslims remain moderate and tolerant and that threats of attacks remain more noise than substance. That view — and Megawati's political skills — will soon be put to the test.
Write to Asiaweek at mail@web.asiaweek.com
© 2001 Asiaweek. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 1999-2001 - Ambon Berdarah On-Line * http://www.go.to/ambon
HTML pages designed and maintained by Alifuru67 * http://www.oocities.org/baguala67
Send your comments to alifuru67@egroups.com