ADNKI, Feb-15-07 15:58
Indonesia: former militia leader warns jihad could start outside
Poso
Jakarta, 15 Feb. (AKI) - The former leader of Indonesia's largest Islamic militia Laskar
Jihad, which has officially disbanded, said terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) will be
defeated by the army within the next six months in Central Sulawesi but that its holy
war, or jihad, could move to other parts of Indonesia's archipelago. "I don't think it will
take long for security forces to defeat JI in Poso [a Muslim majority city of the
province] but the government should beware of the potential moves of the terrorists
who could re-create JI somewhere else," Jaafar Umar Thalib told Adnkronos
International (AKI).
The Islamic cleric admitted that religious leaders such as himself should also have the
responsibility of fighting terrorism.
"It is our duty as preachers to strengthen people's faith," he told AKI in an interview at
the Islamic school he heads near Yogyakarta, a city in the central area of Java.
Jaafar has supported a police crackdown on JI in which 17 alleged members of the
organization were killed in January in Poso, a haven for the terrorist group.
A sectarian war in Central Sulawesi has killed over 1,000 people from 1999 to 2001
and left a deep mark in the population. Jaafar's Laskar Jihad took part in the conflict
but has now allegedly dissolved.
According to Sidney Jones, the director of the South Asian branch of the
Brussels-based International Crisis Group think tank, terrorists fleeing Poso could go
to Java and join Noordin Mohammed Top, the leader of a splinter of JI known as
Tanzim Qaedat al-Jihad which is believed to be the most dangerous armed group in
the country.
"Even if only a small number of jihadists fleeing Poso were to join Noordin, the
security risks would be significant," the expert told AKI. (Fsc/Aki)
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