LAKSAMANA.Net, October 13, 2002 07:59 PM
Terrorism: US Threatens to Pull Out Staff
October 13, 2002 07:59 PM
Laksamana.Net - Even before the Bali bomb outrage, the heat on Indonesia was
raised significantly last week as the United States contemplated pulling out staff as
the grenade blast in Jakarta September 23 was linked to international terrorism.
US officials told reporters in off-record interviews that the US was moving to pull out
many non-essential staff over concerns about poor security exemplified by the
grenade blast, which killed one of the bombers when it went off in their car.
Originally thought to be amateurs planning a protest over domestic regional issues,
the fact that one captured suspect has so far refused to talk suggests that the
plotters were not beginners.
Indonesian police sources have, however, provided completely varying accounts of the
bombing from the very beginning, to the fury of their international counterparts.
The US, apparently having conducted its own study, came to firm conclusions about
the botched bombing.
The Wall Street Journal reported October 11 that "the US government believes a
grenade explosion in Jakarta … was a botched terrorist attack on an American official,
and Washington is threatening to begin evacuating diplomatic staff unless Indonesia
cracks down on Islamic militant groups."
The report said US officials say Indonesian investigators "have uncovered evidence
that the … attack was ordered by Abu Bakar Basyir … the intended target was a
house occupied by an employee of the U.S. Agency for International Development,
the officials say."
Admiral Thomas B. Fargo, commander of the US Pacific Command, called
Indonesia's military chief, Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, Wednesday (9/10/02), The
Washington Post reported.
"He discussed with the general the seriousness with which the US government views
the threat to American interests and Americans in Indonesia," said a Navy
spokesman.
In particular, he said, Fargo highlighted the danger posed by Jemaah Islamiyah (JI),
the group headed by Solo-based leader Basyir.
In yet more evidence of the role of Indonesian operatives in the international terrorist
network, Philippine police were hunting for two Indonesian terrorists believed to have
trained local Muslim extremists who set a motorbike bomb in General Santos that
killed three, including a US soldier, and left another 25 wounded.
The Indonesians were believed to be members of JI. They had trained members of the
Abu-Sayyaf and Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the manufacture and handling of
explosives, The Straits Times reported.
The men, both from South Sulawesi, were believed to have worked with captured al
Qaeda operative Omar Al-Faruq. They had gone into hiding following the arrest of
fellow JI member Uskar Makawata last month in General Santos City, the paper
quoted police sources as saying.
Makawata, also from South Sulawesi, is being held at a maximum-security prison in
Manila for his alleged involvement in a series of bombings in central Mindanao.
It was Australia’s turn to demand the arrest of Basyir. Australian Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer said his country was convinced that the religious scholar figured
prominently in the Islamic militant terrorist group accused of plotting to bomb the US,
Australian and British embassies in Singapore.
Downer did concede Monday (7/10/02) that Indonesian authorities could not arrest
Basyir without clear evidence he had committed a crime that could be proven in a
court, and acknowledged that there are "political sensitivities in Indonesia about this
issue".
He urged Indonesia to move faster on new anti-terrorism legislation.
"We have no doubt that Basyir is a significant figure associated with Jemaah
Islamiyah," Downer told a news conference on the fringes of the East Asia Economic
Summit. "We urge countries in the region...to be vigilant in dealing with this
organization."
Basyir denies all
Basyir denied the allegation that he was involved as "a big lie", saying it was part of a
US conspiracy to put him behind bars.
The Straits Times said Basyir warned that a move against him would amount to an
attack against Islam.
"I defend Islam. Now it is up to the Indonesian government, police and people to also
defend Islam, or to choose to defend America," he told a press conference.
"I am not afraid of arrest. But if they do so without following the law, I will use all my
power to fight it. I have lots of Muslim brothers, and they can help me."
Mudzakir, a close associate of Basyir’s, said Muslim youth would be told to be
ready to sacrifice their lives for the right to defend their religion. "If these leaders are
arrested for terror-related charges, then we will have to go all out to fight."
A lawyer for Basyir did admit, however, that "US propaganda" was successfully
turning the Indonesian public against his client.
Taliban state
Vice President Hamzah Haz, in his normal flippant tone, put an interesting spin on the
US position on terrorism when he told a meeting of clerics in Surabaya that
Washington was afraid he was going to create a Taliban in Indonesia, Agence
France-Presse reported.
Other prominent Indonesian Muslims expressed concern over US posturing. "The
Americans are acting as if they are paranoid," a former senior Foreign Ministry official
told Asiamad.Com.
The British, at least, were trying to see the perspective from as wide an angle as
possible. They were hosting Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) general chairman Hasyim Muzadi
in London for a series of briefings.
The end of FPI?
Pressure also mounted for the disbandment of the Islamic Defenders’ Front (FPI)
after its latest round of night club trashings. While the attacks were a repeat of many
previous incidents which police ignored completely, this time eight people were
dragged in and leader Habib Rizieq Shihab was under pressure.
A major demonstration involving some 2,000 people Wednesday (9/10/02) displayed
an element of the genuine unpopularity of the organization and a more organized
mass protest.
Earlier demonstrations against the group had featured only workers at the nightlife
venues.
Muslim leader Al Habib H. Ahmad Nizar took a prominent stand in last week’s
theater, urging the police to quickly bring the accused to court. But he also lashed out
at Rizieq for suggesting that FPI may have had an element of control by groups out to
destroy the country.
NU’s youth wing Ansor was also prominent in the demands for an end to the FPI.
Rizieq is to be questioned next week.
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