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| Southeast Asia |
| Bambang may ban JI |
| 2004-10-26 |
| Indonesia's new president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said the Islamic extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah may be declared a banned organisation as part of the country's bid to crack down on terrorism. The former general said in an interview with Time magazine he would review the steps being taken against the Al Qaeda linked network, which is not illegal in Indonesia despite being blamed for a string of deadly attacks including the Bali bombings. "If there are explanations and proof that JI (Jemaah Islamiyah) as an organization does exist in Indonesia, and if it is legally proven that its members are involved in terrorist activities, then it will be declared a banned organization," he told the magazine. "We will use the legal process in order for this to become a legal and law enforcement issue, not a political one," he added in his first interview since being sworn in on October 20. Despite the lack of a ban, Indonesia has made a major effort to arrest key members of JI -- which on Friday was slapped with another two-year order by the US State Department branding it a foreign terrorist group. The president said he would generally improve the country's police and intelligence services, adding that he was "certain that by taking these steps we'll be able to prevent the growth of terrorism in Indonesia". Yudhoyono, who won a landslide election victory over his former boss Megawati Sukarnoputri last month, acknowledged that there were "so many fundamental issues that I have to face" in running the country. He repeated the pledge he made at his first cabinet meeting on Friday to tackle Indonesia's rampant corruption problem. "The eradication of corruption will be my priority over the next five years. We have to eradicate it structurally and culturally," Yudhoyono told Time. He said the country would be "destroyed" if levels of graft continued. A global corruption index last week ranked Indonesia as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. "There needs to be some shock therapy so that the people know that this government is serious about corruption," he added. Turning to another of the major challenges facing the country, Yudhoyono said there were signs that a peaceful solution could be reached to a bloody separatist uprising in Aceh province. "There is an opportunity for us to end the conflict in Aceh with a new policy," with the region receiving "special autonomy" if the rebels of the Free Aceh Movement disarmed, he said. Yudhoyono added that he would offer amnesty to any rebels who surrendered. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |