WorldNetDaily, March 7, 2003
Faith Under Fire
Jihad warriors back in business
Christians fear regrouping of Islamists who slaughtered thousands
An Islamic militant group that has slaughtered thousands of Christians in Indonesia
continues to operate despite formally announcing it had disbanded.
Laskar Jihad, which wants to make Indonesia an Islamic state, has established at
least 12 military training camps with more than 2,000 fighters in the eastern province
of Papua, the former Irian Jaya, according to recent reports from human rights groups,
the Assist News Service said.
[Photo: Laskar Jihad warriors]
The militant group waged a violent campaign against Christians in Indonesia's Maluku
province, where at least 10,000 people were killed, and in Sulawesi. Indonesia has the
largest Muslim population in the world, with more than 180 million.
The Indonesia military is helping arm and fund Laskar Jihad, which began to arrive in
Papua two years ago, according to a report by the Barnabas Fund, a British charity
that serves persecuted Christians.
The Barnabas Fund says the group began forming links with local authorities, police
and army units, and with the pro-Jakarta militia Satgas Merah Putih, which opposes
Papuan calls for independence from Indonesia.
Pakistani and Afghan mujahideen, or holy war fighters, have been sighted on the
island, according to reports by local Christians, who say they discovered stockpiles of
weapons.
The radical Islamic group's magazine, which contains virulent attacks on Christians,
Jews and the U.S., is sold openly in markets in Papua, the report said.
T-shirts, DVDs and books on Osama bin Laden also are on sale.
A leading Papuan human rights campaigner confirmed that Laskar Jihad is operating
in the province, according to Radio Australia News. John Rumbiak, of the
non-governmental group Elsham, says the Indonesian military is collaborating closely
with the holy warriors, especially along the border with Papua New Guinea.
"Military personnel ... are involved in training them," he said, "They have placed them
in several districts in Papua, like the transmigration sites where the majority of the
Muslims are."
Laskar Jihad apparently is trying to seek favor with the local Muslim population,
although the majority rejects the group's presence as a dangerous destabilizing factor
in an already extremely tense region, Barnabas Fund said.
Local Christians believe the failure of police and army units to stop Laskar Jihad from
expanding its military campaign into Papua confirms the complicity of authorities.
Last summer, four Laskar Jihad members carrying homemade guns were seized by
Christians and handed over to police, but no action was taken.
Others who have reported Laskar Jihad activities to officials say that they have been
harassed and threatened with arrest themselves, the Barnabas Fund reported. Some
say they have received intimidating phone calls late at night.
[Photo: Laskar chief Jafar Umar Thalib]
In January, the group's leader, Jafar Umar Thalib, was declared innocent of inciting
hatred and religious violence by an East Jakarta court, a decision condemned by
human rights groups.
After his arrest last May, Thalib was visited by Indonesian Vice President Hamzah
Has and soon was released on bail. A trial was scheduled for August but was
postponed when the judge stated: "I see that you're pale. We don't want to examine
someone who is unhealthy. … I hope you can get well soon."
Senior officials in the police, military and government appear to be supporting Laskar
Jihad and protecting it from prosecution despite overwhelming evidence of the
organization's involvement in mass murder and human rights abuses, according to
Barnabas.
Holy war
Laskar Jihad's attack on Christians in Maluku province formally ended with a peace
agreement in February 2002. A pact to end the 20-month insurgency in Sulawesi was
made in December 2001.
Barnabas said, however, that Laskar Jihad never complied with the agreements and
continued attacking Christian villages, homes and churches, killing at least 10,000 –
possibly as many as 30,000, according to some estimates – and displacing
half-a-million people. Many Christians were murdered, tortured, forcibly converted to
Islam, forcibly circumcised and virtually enslaved.
The majority-Christian Papuans have sought independence since they were annexed
by Indonesia in 1963. Laskar Jihad's arrival, in apparent cooperation with the military,
is reminiscent to many of Indonesia's use of militia to brutally repress East Timor's
struggle for independence. Papua Christians fear the militants will be given a free hand
to wage another bloody campaign, this time in their homeland.
Meanwhile, another separatist-minded Indonesian province, Aceh, has announced the
opening of its first Islamic law court. In January 2002, a special autonomy agreement
made the province the only part of the country in which Islamic law, or shariah, is
enforced.
Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh has assured non-Muslims that shariah will not
diminish their rights, but Christians there note that similar promises have been broken
in other places in the world where it has been introduced, such as Nigeria.
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