Jakarta, 15 Feb. (AKI) - The former leader of Indonesia's largest Islamic militia Laskar Jihad, which has officially disbanded, said terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) will be defeated by the army within the next six months in Central Sulawesi but that its holy war, or jihad, could move to other parts of Indonesia's archipelago. "I don't think it will take long for security forces to defeat JI in Poso [a Muslim majority city of the province] but the government should beware of the potential moves of the terrorists who could re-create JI somewhere else," Jaafar Umar Thalib told Adnkronos International (AKI).
The Islamic cleric admitted that religious leaders such as himself should also have the responsibility of fighting terrorism. "It is our duty as preachers to strengthen people's faith," he told AKI in an interview at the Islamic school he heads near Yogyakarta, a city in the central area of Java. Jaafar has supported a police crackdown on JI in which 17 alleged members of the organization were killed in January in Poso, a haven for the terrorist group.
| Getting the cops to whack the competition for him? |
A sectarian war in Central Sulawesi has killed over 1,000 people from 1999 to 2001 and left a deep mark in the population. Jaafar's Laskar Jihad took part in the conflict but has now allegedly dissolved. | "allegedly" being the key word here |
According to Sidney Jones, the director of the South Asian branch of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group think tank, terrorists fleeing Poso could go to Java and join Noordin Mohammed Top, the leader of a splinter of JI known as Tanzim Qaedat al-Jihad which is believed to be the most dangerous armed group in the country. "Even if only a small number of jihadists fleeing Poso were to join Noordin, the security risks would be significant," the expert told AKI. |