The Straits Times, Dec 28, 2004
Bashir's group sets up branches across Indonesia
MEDAN - AN ISLAMIC extremist group led by Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir,
who is facing charges of terrorism, has set up dozens of new branches in at least
eight provinces across Indonesia.
The branches of the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI) will help the organisation
push its campaign for Islamic syariah laws.
More branches will be set up in all cities and towns in the country, senior MMI
executive Irfan Awas said.
The aim, he said, was for the organisation to have a presence in every corner of the
country.
He made the announcement on Saturday at a ceremony to inaugurate the new MMI
executive board for Langkat regency in North Sumatra.
He spoke at the Amaliyah mosque in Stabat town, some 120km from the provincial
capital Medan.
He encouraged all MMI executives to promote Islamic syariah laws despite the risks
such as those faced by Bashir, who is their top leader.
The 66-year-old cleric is currently on trial for his alleged links to the Jemaah Islamiah
(JI) group blamed for a series of terrorist bombings across Indonesia.
He has been charged with inciting his followers to carry out the October 2002 Bali
attacks that killed 202 people and a deadly blast last year at the JW Marriott Hotel in
Jakarta that left 12 dead.
Many people suspect that MMI is linked to the regional JI terror network.
But the authorities cannot find the legal evidence, and Bashir has repeatedly denied
the charges against him and his organisation.
He set up MMI in 1999 after returning from Malaysia one year after former president
Suharto's downfall.
MMI's central headquarters is in Surakarta in Central Java, which is also where his
Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Ngruki is located.
In his speech, Mr Irfan also criticised President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, top
military chief General Endriartono Sutarto and most Muslims. He accused them of
lacking the courage to enforce syariah laws in Indonesia. -- JAKARTA POST/ASIA
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