The Sydney Morning Herald, January 6, 2005
Radicals pitch in to clean up and keep Islamic law
By Matthew Moore, Herald Correspondent in Banda Aceh
[PHOTO: Helping out ... FPI members drill before other chores.]
Radical Islamic groups best known for smashing bars and violent support of the jailed
cleric Abu Bakar Bashir have sent large contingents of their members to Aceh with
funding provided by the Indonesian Government.
At Banda Aceh's airport, trucks with supplies to be ferried to disaster-struck areas by
US Navy helicopters have been unloaded by members of Bashir's group, the MMI,
including one man proudly wearing an Osama bin Laden T-shirt.
Members of the FPI (Islamic Defenders Front), famous for its attacks on nightspots in
Jakarta, are now living in Banda Aceh in tents provided by the army and the Ministry
of Social Affairs.
The head of the FPI contingent, Hilmy Bakar Almascaty, said about 250 members
had come to Aceh with tickets provided by the Government; 800 more on board an
Indonesian warship would help clean up the devastated province.
"FPI is not only an organisation that destroys bars and discos, it has a humanitarian
side as well that the media is not happy to expose," Dr Almascaty said.
Early yesterday 50 of his troops wearing FPI shirts went through a series of military
drills before heading off to the city to help collect corpses still not recovered from the
millions of tonnes of rubble.
Dr Almascaty said his group had held discussions with the head of the army, General
Ryamizard Ryacudu, the Defence Minister, Juwono Sudarsono and the
Vice-President, Jusuf Kalla, and had come to Aceh with the full backing of the
Government.
He said his members were in Aceh to help, although the army in the past has often
been accused of using Islamic groups to fight its battles, especially in divided
communities like Aceh.
Dr Almascaty agreed that, as well as helping gather corpses and clean up mosques,
the FPI had come to play another role.
He said he was determined to ensure the arrival of foreign soldiers and aid workers did
not lead to a breakdown in the system of syariah, or Islamic law, which has been in
nominal operation in Aceh for several years.
"If anyone who comes here does not respect the syariah law, traditions and
constitution, we must give them a warning and then we must attack," he said.
Dr Almascaty said his group was co-ordinating with MMI and with another hardline
group banned in many countries, Hizbut Tharir, in a plan to curtail Western influence.
"You cannot build a bar here. If you go to your room to drink that is no problem, but
you can't drink in a public area," he said.
He warned foreign soldiers and aid workers: "Don't go with Acehnese women, with
Muslim women. If you come here and take women and try to westernise them, this is
a problem for me."
Dr Almascaty said he had already met the Indonesian military commander in Aceh,
General Endang Suwarya, and urged him to set aside areas "to keep the US
separate".
The head of the MMI contingent, Salman al Furizi, said his group of 50 young men
from central Java had flown to Banda Aceh on a military aircraft. He was prepared to
put aside his vehement opposition to the US because of the help it was providing.
"We have to understand this is a disaster, so we are not talking about other
problems," he said.
Dr Almascaty also welcomed the Americans and other traditional enemies of his
group. "At the moment they have come as an angel," he said. "We don't know about
tomorrow."
Copyright © 2005. The Sydney Morning Herald.
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