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| Southeast Asia |
| Laskar Jihad to disband... |
| 2002-10-15 |
| Laskar Jihad, Indonesia's most violent Muslim extremist group announced Tuesday that it was disbanding in what appeared to be the first sign that the government is getting serious about cracking down on Islamic extremism in the wake of the deadly bombing of a Bali nightclub. Guess the military decided to stop funding them, and the Soddies won't pick up the slack. Yet. Though Laskar Jihad is not believed to be tied to the nightclub attack, its dissolution may be the first sign Indonesia is heeding the international pressure. Achmad Michdan, legal adviser to the group, which has deep ties to Indonesia's military and has waged sectarian warfare against Christians on the outlying island of Ambon, told reporters in Jakarta, the capital, that the group was disbanding. He insisted the move was unconnected to the bombing and was rooted in theological issues. "It's a theological issue. The guys with the money told us to go to hell..." "It has nothing to do with the bombs. There was no pressure on us from military," he said. "It is an internal matter. The clerics in Indonesia and in the Middle East have disagreed with Jafar Umar Thalib's teachings and have asked him to disband the group," Michdan said without elaborating. He wouldn't bow down to anybody named bin Laden, so he must not be legit... Efforts to contact Jafar Umar Thalib, the group's leader in Ambon, the capital of Maluku province about 1,600 miles east of Jakarta, were unsuccessful. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 "If the stock market falls any further, yer feet ain't gonna touch the ground..." |
| Posted by: Tripartite 2002-10-15 12:11:00 |