MSNBC, December 12, 2001
Al-Qaida links cited in Indonesia
For first time, official links bin Laden’s group to local unrest
MSNBC NEWS SERVICES
JAKARTA, Indonesia, Dec. 12 — Indonesia’s intelligence chief said Wednesday that
Osama bin Laden’s terror network has training camps on Sulawesi island. It was the
first time Indonesia has linked the group to sectarian violence in the world’s most
populous Muslim nation. Bin Laden’s al-Qaida and other foreign terrorists worked
with local Islamic militants fighting Christians on the island, Lt. Gen. Abdullah
Hendropriyono said after meeting with President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
IN THE PAST, Indonesian government and military officials have denied speculation
that al-Qaida had links in Indonesia. A U.S. State Department document released this
week by the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta listed 45 countries where al-Qaida and affiliated
groups have cells. The list included nearby nations such as Malaysia and the
Philippines, but not Indonesia.
Al-Qaida set up training camps on Sulawesi two years ago but activity has quieted
recently, Hendropriyono said.
He said Indonesia did not need U.S. assistance to eradicate the Sulawesi camps and
that he believed they had not been used by terrorists involved in the Sept. 11 attacks
on the United States.
“We are monitoring al-Qaida. When they come again for training we will ambush them,” he
told Jakarta’s El-Shinta radio station. Advertisement
At least 15 people have been killed over the past two weeks in religious clashes in
Poso, Sulawesi, which have prompted Jakarta to send 2,000 extra troops to restore
an uneasy calm to the region, some 980 miles northeast of Jakarta.
In sporadic fighting between Christians and Muslims on the island over the past two
years, about 1,000 people have been killed. And in the nearby province of Maluku,
about 9,000 people have died in three years of sectarian warfare.
Some analysts say Indonesia offers fertile ground for terror networks to operate as the
nation struggles to impose law and order in the face of its worst political and
economic upheaval in decades.
The sprawling archipelago of more than 13,000 islands has relatively porous borders
and plenty of potential hiding places.
A Muslim militia group, Laskar Jihad, has been blamed for much of the recent fighting
in the region. The group arrived on Sulawesi a few months ago after taking part in
sectarian battles in the Maluku islands.
AMBON QUIET BUT NERVOUS
Farther to the east from Jakarta, the city of Ambon was quiet but on edge after riots
triggered by a mysterious explosion on a ferry killed up to 10 people, officials said.
Hundreds went on a rampage in Ambon on Tuesday, setting fire to a local parliament
building and several trucks following the explosion of the wooden ferry boat California
in Ambon Bay. The ferry was carrying mostly Christians, and the rioting was
attributed to Christians angered by rumors that Muslim extremists had planted a
bomb on the boat.
“People were caught by rumors saying that the explosion was caused by a bomb, but we
can’t determine that yet. The source of the explosion came from the boat engine so
it could have been a technical problem,” army spokesman Maj. Herry Suhardi said.
Provincial police spokesman Marthens Alfons said up to 41 people were hurt in the
blast.
The latest troubles have served as a reminder of the smoldering religious conflicts that
in the last three years have sporadically turned Ambon island and the rest of the
fabled Moluccas spice islands into a Christian-Muslim battleground.
The islands had been largely calm in recent months with no reports of mass violence.
The quiet was mainly credited to the civil emergency status Jakarta imposed on the
area in June 2000, giving local authorities the right to detain people on the spot and
declare curfews.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
© 2001 MSNBC
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