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Indonesia to Begin War on Terror


ASSOCIATED PRESS, Thursday December 13, 2001 12:40 PM ET

Indonesia to Begin War on Terror

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesia's defense minister on Thursday vowed an all-out assault on terrorism after the government claimed for the first time that Osama bin Laden's terror network had operations in Indonesia.

The bases were set up by bin Laden's al-Qaida on Sulawesi island, which has been torn by sectarian violence, intelligence chief Abdullah Hendropriyono said Wednesday. He believed the camps were not used by terrorists involved in the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

``What was said by the head of intelligence yesterday was based on fact and data,'' Defense Minister Matori Abdul Djalil said. ``We will wage war on terrorism. We must take firm and forceful steps.''

Until this week, the government has repeatedly denied that al-Qaida or other foreign terrorist groups were working in Indonesia.

However, a senior Western diplomat in Jakarta dismissed Hendropriyono's claims of an al-Qaida presence, saying, ``I don't know where they're getting this from.'' He spoke on condition of anonymity.

A State Department document released this week by the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta listed 45 countries where al-Qaida and affiliated groups have suspected cells. The list, which included nearby nations such as Malaysia and the Philippines, did not name Indonesia.

The main Muslim militant group blamed for much of the recent bloodshed in the Sulawesi area has repeatedly denied any links with al-Qaida.

About 1,000 people have been killed on Sulawesi Island in the past two years in sporadic fighting between Christians and Muslims. In the nearby province of Maluku, about 9,000 people have died in three years of sectarian warfare.

In the latest bloodshed, six Christians and three Muslims were killed Wednesday in clashes in North Maluku province, residents said.

Some intelligence experts suggested the claims of an al-Qaida link in the world's most populous Muslim nation were designed to persuade the United States to relax a two-year ban on sales of military equipment and spare parts.

The United States cut military aid to Indonesia in 1999 after a bloody crackdown by Indonesian troops in East Timor.

Copyright © 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
 


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