The Jakarta Post, 5/9/2002 8:29:10 PM
Radical Muslim leaders denounce Ja'far's arrest
JAKARTA (JP): Radical Muslim leaders condemned on Thursday the arrest of Muslim
militia commander Ja'far Umar Thalib, on charges of inciting the deadly attack on a
Christian village in Ambon.
The leaders railed against the arrest during a gathering at the Al-Azhar Mosque in
South Jakarta.
After the gathering, the leaders visited Ja'far at his detention cell in the National Police
Headquarters.
The Muslim leaders who visited Ja'far included Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who heads the
Surakarta-based Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI), and Habib Rizieq, the Jakarta
chief of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).
"Police hardly ever trouble the true provocateurs of the Maluku Sovereignty Front.
They just go after the real Muslims who are fighting for our helpless Muslim brothers
in Maluku," Habib said.
Ja'far, the head of the radical group Laskar Jihad, was arrested on Saturday in
connection with an April 26 speech in Ambon during which he allegedly called for the
killing of Christians. (ylt)
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