The Jakarta Post, 10/21/2002 4:36:46 PM
Laskar Jihad will leave Poso conflict area gradually
PALU, Central Sulawesi (JP): Former chairman of the Central Sulawesi branch of the
"Ahlussunah wal Jamaah" Communication Forum, which oversees the Laskar Jihad
Muslim militia group, Zabir, disclosed here on Monday that all members of the militia
would leave the Poso conflict area by the end of next month.
"All 200 members of the militia (mainly deployed to Poso) will leave Central Sulawesi
province by the end of next month at the latest," Zabir told Antara.
On Saturday Oct. 12, the militia's commander Jafar Umar Thalib dissolved Laskar
Jihad, saying that the militia was no longer needed as a legion.
He said the organization would alternate its activities to serve in social and religious
missions in the fields of education, health care and Islamic propagation.
Following the dissolution, some 780 members left the Ambon conflict area in Maluku
province for their respective hometowns in Java.
Meanwhile, Zabir pointed out that some 70 members had left Poso, while the rest
would be sent back to Java gradually. "It is likely that I will be the last to go," he said.
He said the militia members have been instructed by forum leaders in its headquarters
in Saudi Arabia to leave the conflict areas.
The Laskar Jihad members had originally been recruited voluntarily from Java to help
wage war with fellow Muslims involved in clashes against residents of the country's
predominantly Christian areas, particularly in Ambon, Maluku and Poso, Central
Sulawesi.
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