ASSOCIATED PRESS, Wednesday December 12, 2001
Indonesian Official: Sulawesi Radicals Have Al-Qaida Link
JAKARTA, Dec. 12 (AP) -- Foreign terrorists, including Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida
network, are cooperating with domestic radicals on Indonesia's Sulawesi island which
has been wracked by fighting between Christians and Muslims, the country's
intelligence chief said Wednesday.
Lt. Gen. Abdullah Hendropriyono told reporters after meeting President Megawati
Sukarnoputri that the foreigners were working with local militant groups, responsible
for much of the fighting.
"It is the result of cooperation between international terrorists and domestic radical
groups," he told journalists.
Asked whether he was referring to al-Qaida, he said: "Yes, that is who I mean."
This is the first time the government has alleged that al-Qaida is linked to the
sectarian bloodshed in the world's most populous Muslim nation.
Indonesia isn't on a U.S. list of nations where al-Qaida is known to be present and
local Muslim militants have repeatedly denied any links to the Taliban or al-Qaida.
Senior intelligence officials have in the past accused human rights organizations of
working closely with foreign radical Muslim groups.
About 1,000 people have been killed on Sulawesi island in the past two years in
fighting between Christians and Muslims. In the nearby province of Maluku, about
9,000 people have died in three years of sectarian warfare.
The government has dispatched about 2,000 police and soldiers to Sulawesi and says
the situation is now under control.
Deputy police chief Gen. Sjahcroedin Pagaralam was quoted by the Jakarta Post
newspaper as saying security forces would raid the camps of armed militias and
confiscate weapons. He said if any outsiders are found in the area they would be
deported.
A Muslim militia group, Laskar Jihad, has been blamed for much of the recent fighting
in the region. It arrived on Sulawesi a few months ago after taking part in sectarian
battles in the Maluku islands.
Copyright © 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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