The Australian, March 19, 2003
Indon group orders us out
AN Islamic group notorious for its raids on Jakarta nightspots has told Australians,
Americans and Britons to leave Indonesia before allied forces enter Iraq.
The Front Pembela Islam (FPI) has labelled citizens from countries who have joined
the allied forces kafir harbi, an Arabic term for non-Muslims who can be legally killed.
And Anshor, the youth wing of Indonesia's largest Islamic organisation Nahdlatul
Ulama, threatened today to force US and allied diplomats to leave Indonesia, and also
said it planned a national boycott of US products.
The Front Pembela Islam declaration marks a return of the FPI, founded in 1998 and
then disbanded last September, and raises questions about the commitment by
Indonesian security forces to clamp down on terrorism.
"When the attack happens the allies will face thousands of new Osama bin Ladens
who will destroy US interests around the world," FPI chairman Habib Rizieq told AAP,
referring to the leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
"Every citizen who directly supports the US is considered kafir harbi."
Rizieq said he had seen news from Australia of popular protest against unilateral
military action and from England of Robin Cook's decision to resign from the cabinet.
"Not all (allied) citizens are bad, that's why we will give them warning for their safety to
leave Indonesia immediately," he said.
The declaration followed a meeting of 250 senior members of the group at a university
campus in Jakarta at the weekend.
While FPI has never fulfilled previous vows to "sweep" the city for foreigners, its
high-profile raids on gambling dens and nightclubs has led many analysts to believe it
works as a militia arm of the police to exact extortion fees.
"If they are still coordinating with the police, the police may want more money to
protect international schools and so forth," said one analyst, who spoke on condition
of anonymity.
Any alliance with the police appeared to have dissolved last September when Rizieq
was arrested for a number of weeks and his membership was disbanded in response
to a violent raid on some billiard clubs in North Jakarta.
Rizieq said he would not be opposed by "good" police when he carried out his
sweepings.
"They are not collaborators with immoral entrepreneurs, while bad police will try to
stop us," he said.
Last night, National Police Chief Da'i Bachtiar told reporters his entire force of 250,000
officers would be on alert to maintain peace, while every embassy in Jakarta would be
given extra security.
FPI broke up just before the October 12 bombings in Bali, last year which killed 202
people and forged a much higher level of commitment from the Indonesian police to
fight terrorism.
Just after the Bali bombings, the Islamic extremist group Laskar Jihad, believed to be
backed by the military, declared it would stop fighting Christians in the eastern island
of Ambon.
And Abu Bakar Bashir, the leader of terrorist organisation Jemaah Islamiah whose
detained members have admitted to the Bali bombings, was arrested in Solo over a
series of attacks.
Charges against the detained Bashir were recently softened from conspiring to
assassinate President Megawati Sukarnoputri to a general allegation of treason.
© The Australian
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