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Maluku tensions divide government


CNN, May 14, 2002 Posted: 6:32 PM HKT (1032 GMT)

Maluku tensions divide government

By Amy Chew for CNN

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Indonesian Vice President Hamzah Haz has explicitly expressed his support for a militant Muslim group blamed for fueling sectarian violence in the Maluku islands and accused of having links with al Qaeda.

Haz support for Laskar Jihad is seen as a tacit opposition to President Megawati Sukarnoputri who has ordered her government to step up efforts to end the bloody three-year violence which human rights group say has killed 10,000.

Haz recently visited Laskar Jihad's commander Ja'far Umar Thalib, who was arrested for inciting religious violence in Maluku during a rally on April 26 where he exhorted Muslims to kill Christians.

During the rally, Thalib was also alleged to have expressed his intention to kill all the relatives of the former President Sukarno, including his daughter, President Megawati.

Thalib is also held in connection with an attack on Christians in Soya village on April 28, which killed 13 people.

Haz spent one and half hours with Thalib and said his visit was based on "Muslim brotherhood" and dismissed suggestions of political interference into Thalib's case.

On Monday Haz opened Laskar Jihad's national conference in Jakarta. The conference was also attended by the Minister of Cooperatives Ali Marwan Hanan and deputy Parliament speaker A.M. Fatwa.

"Haz's visit to Thalib amounts to a divorce with Megawati. He is trying gain the support of radical Muslims whom he thinks are large in numbers when in fact they are not," said military analyst Djuanda.

Megawati's political party, Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDIP), criticized Haz's visit to Thalib, saying he appeared to be "opposing" the president's efforts to end the conflict.

"Hamzah Haz, as the Vice President, should not have gone there. It is wrong," Arifin Panigoro, co-chairman of PDIP, told CNN.

"He tried to interfere....he is the chairman of the United Development Party (PPP), which is very Muslim-orientated. He was trying to get support from Muslim voters," Arifin added.

Peace deal questioned

Maluku violence

Laskar Jihad has been blamed for the conflict between Muslims and Christians in Maluku

Violence first erupted in Maluku in 1999. Laskar Jihad arrived on the islands the following year and has been blamed for deepening the conflict.

The situation calmed down in February after the government brokered a peace deal signed by Christians and Muslims who agreed to stop fighting.

Laskar Jihad has vehemently opposed the deal.

Following the Soya attack, the peace deal has been called into question.

Analysts said Haz visit had the effect of legitimizing Laskar Jihad's actions.

"This will make the Muslims in Maluku believe even more in Laskar Jihad, that Ja'far Umar Tahlib is right. His supporters will become even more fanatic," said Arbi Sanit, lecturer of the University of Indonesia.

"This means the Vice President's visit will make it even more difficult to resolve the conflict in Maluku," Sanit added.

Peace in Maluku is crucial to rebuilding the shattered islands and to strengthening the existing religious tolerance in the rest of the country.

This has an added impetus given the current background of the Middle East crisis and the U.S. war in Afghanistan, which has inflamed Muslim sentiment in the world's largest Muslim country.

Scapegoats

Thalib

Jaffar Umar Thalib, the head of the Laskar Jihad militia group, has reportedly threatened to kill Megawati

While the majority of Indonesian Muslims are moderates, Laskar Jihad's militancy has sometimes intimidated officials.

Last week, the government ordered Lasdkar Jihad, which hails from Java, to be removed from Maluku along with the dissolution of a radical Christian group, the Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM).

Laskar Jihad told CNN they were being made "scapegoats" by the government.

"How can they remove Laskar Jihad when most of the members have Maluku ID cards? All the Muslims on Maluku support us," Syafruddin told CNN.

Syafruddin claimed Laskar Jihad's members totaled almost one million.

"But we are not armed, we are ordinary civilians," Syafruddin added.

Djuanda, who is a former intelligence officer, estimates Laskar Jihad's strength at 7,000-9,000.

"They are trained and armed -- be it home-made or automatic weapons. In a country which is not stable, this is significant," said Djuanda.

© 2001 Cable News Network LP, LLLP
 


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