ABC AUSTRALIA, 04/12/2003 11:22:47
Muslim leader says radical Islamists losing ground
Indonesia has been accused of softening its stand on militancy following a Jakarta
court decision to clear Muslim cleric, Abu Bakar Bashir, of treason.
The court also reduced his sentence from four to three years, although it upheld other
charges.
Bashir was convicted in September of a plot to overthrow the Indonesian Government,
but was cleared of allegations he was the leader of the Jemaah Islamiah terror
network.
Bashir's lawyers are now taking their case to the Supreme Court to have all charges
against him dropped.
Although security experts describe the ruling as a setback, Syafi'i Ma'arif, the
chairman of one of Indonesia's largest moderate Muslim groups, Muhammadiyah,
says radical Islamists are losing ground in Indonesia.
"I think the phenomenon of radical Islams in Indonesia is a very recent phenomena.
Maybe the external influence is more dominant than the domestic problem in
Indonesia," he says.
04/12/2003 11:22:47 | ABC Radio Australia News
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