Leaders of Muslim groups in Indonesia, including two of the country's largest, said the arrest of militants in Singapore and Malaysia was part of a United States-led conspiracy against Islam. Nadhlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, together with the Indonesian Ulema Council, outfits operating on the fringe and some legislators, criticized the detentions. The comments suggest that it might be difficult for the Malaysian authorities to gain access to two Indonesians identified as "directing figures" of the detained militants. These are Indonesian Mujahiddin Council Head Abu Bakar Bashir alias Abdus Samad, and preacher Hambali alias Nurjaman Riduan Isamuddin -- both of whom are said to be in Solo, central Java. Din Syamsuddin, secretary general of the Indonesian Ulema Council, the nation's top Islamic authority, said that since the Sept 11 attacks on America, Washington and its allies appeared to be "finding fault" with Islam.
Our dead and maimed, and our seeming offense with their gunmen and mad bombers are just a pretext. The real reason for the American war against terror is that we don't like them. Never have, never will. If it was Lutheran nut jobs grabbing their AKs at every turn and rushing out to indulge in "armed struggle" by killing people indiscriminately we'd be doing nothing about it. Everybody knows that. |