The Straits Times, 03 March, 2007
Opinion: A Jemaah Islamiyah surge bodes ill for Poso
By AMY CHEW
INDONESIA'S Central Sulawesi has once more been hit by a rash of bombings,
assassinations and terror attacks behind which many see the hand of a regional terror
group, writes AMY CHEW. For the past three years, Central Sulawesi has been
terrorised by bombings, murders and beheadings which were blamed on criminals.
But after a major crackdown by police in a series of raids since the start of the year,
the Indonesian government has finally acknowledged the role of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI)
in the violence.
Jemaah Islamiyah, the regional terror group linked to al-Qaeda, is believed to have set
up a base in the Central Sulawesi city of Poso since 2000.
"Jemaah Islamiyah is in Poso, its base is there," according to Ansyaad Mbai, head of
the counter-terrorism desk at the Co-ordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and
Security Affairs.
"All the violence in Poso is the work of terrorists. For a long time, many parties
tended to deny the reality that what was happening in Poso was the work of
terrorists," he added.
Poso was the scene of fighting between Muslims and Christians in 1999 until a peace
accord was signed in December 2001. More than 2,000 people died in the conflict.
After the peace deal, the situation calmed down with only sporadic violence until 2003
when the terror attacks began.
"JI has been provoking people to attack Christians through deviant teachings in the
name of Islam. They hope to create bigger conflicts by conducting acts of terror.
These conflicts are then used to draw people to their cause."
The list of terror attacks is long, including bombings of markets and churches and
assassinations of Christian pastors.
Prosecutor Fery Silalahi, who handled several high-profile terrorism cases, was killed
in May 2004 in a drive-by shooting in Central Sulawesi's provincial capital of Palu.
But it was the grisly beheading of three Christian schoolgirls in October 2005 that
shocked the nation.
Two assailants armed with machetes slashed and chopped off the heads of the girls
as they were walking to school. Three men, Hasanuddin, Lilik Purnomo and Irwanto
Irano, were arrested and charged with the murders.
Hasanuddin admitted to writing a note found in a plastic bag containing the head of
one of the victims which said: "Still looking for 100 more heads of Christian males or
females, blood must be avenged with blood, a life for a life, a head for head."
Hasanuddin's views reveal the extent to which twisted and extreme views had been
spread to Poso by al-Qaeda through its operatives.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation where the majority of adherents
are moderates with a long tradition of diversity. Poso drew international terrorists from
al-Qaeda when its 1999-2001 conflict became a cause for jihadis around the world.
One of them was Omar Al-Faruq, al-Qaeda's top lieutenant in Southeast Asia, who
turned Poso's jungles into a military training ground for militants.
"Omar was in Poso. He conducted military training there," said Ansyaad.
Indonesian intelligence agents arrested Omar in 2002 after receiving a video recording
which showed him leading an attack on a Christian village in Poso. He was handed
over to United States authorities and held at the Bagram maximum security prison in
Afghanistan. In 2005, Omar escaped. A year later, he was gunned down by British
troops in Iraq.
Malaysian Nasir Abas, an ex-Jemaah Islamiyah leader, knew Hasanuddin. Nasir
headed JI's Mantiqi III, the theatre of operations covering Sabah, East Kalimantan,
Central Sulawesi and southern Philippines, and in 2000, Nasir despatched
Hasanuddin to lead JI in Poso.
"I instructed him that there must be no military operations, no attacks against
Christians and no military training. After I was arrested in 2003, I could not control
Hasanuddin. He became influenced by Osama bin Laden's teachings and the fighting
in Poso.
"Hasanuddin started directing JI members to carry out acts of violence," said Nasir,
who has defected and is helping police with anti-terror investigations.
Poso's militants are indoctrinated into believing that it is permitted to kill non-Muslims
and infidels. "They consider the police to be infidels even though the majority are
Muslims because they are deemed to be against the militants," said Nasir.
Therefore, when the police tried to crack down on the militants, they found themselves
up against a well-armed and well-organised resistance.
On Jan 22, a fierce gunbattle broke out when police moved into the Poso
neighbourhood of Tanah Runtuh to arrest 24 men wanted for bombings and murders.
The militants fired at the police using M-16s, pistols and bombs. The fighting lasted
for five hours.
The battle killed one policeman and 13 suspected militants. Police arrested over 30
suspects. Thousands of rounds of ammunition, several M-16s, pistols and
home-made bombs were found.
"There were so many bombs. If one bomb was exploded every day, the bombings
would have lasted for a few years," said Ansyaad.
Eleven days earlier, two suspected militants were killed in a smaller raid.
Several of the dead and wounded had undergone training in al-Qaeda camps in
Afghanistan and southern Philippines. Nasir said the militants sourced their arms from
Java, Ambon and southern Philippines.
"But their greatest strength is the support they get from the local community there,"
said Nasir. The support makes it difficult for the police to arrest alleged militants as
the local community often come out in force to protect the wanted men.
According to Ansyaad, Poso's jihadis aim to establish an Islamic state. "The
terrorists do not acknowledge the democratically-elected government. Their ultimate
aim is an Islamic state."
The International Crisis Group (ICG) warns that Poso's jihad, which was largely
directed against Christians, could now be focused on the police and boost Indonesia's
weakened jihadi movement.
"The urgent task now is to work with local Muslim leaders to explain in detail who the
suspects were and why force was used," said ICG's latest report on Poso.
"Authorities, likewise, need to begin addressing a wide range of local grievances," it
said, adding that no one should assume that the violence is over.
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reversed.
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