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| Southeast Asia |
| Soeharto's Komando Jihad chickens come home to roost |
| 2002-10-14 |
| In 1980, five Indonesian members of a so-called Komando Jihad (Holy War Command) hijacked a Garuda jet and forced it to fly to Bangkok. The plane was stormed by Indonesian commandos who killed four of the hijackers and the fifth man died in mysterious circumstances while being taken back to Jakarta. At the time, it was widely believed in Jakarta that the Komando Jihad had been set up by General Ali Moertopo, a senior army colleague of then president Soeharto, with the aim of discrediting Islamic political groups seen as a threat to the regime. That wasn't the brightest idea he ever had, but it's doubtful the incident is the root of the jihadism that's being pushed in Indonesia. I'd look for that in one of those nothing-on-paper arrangements set up in Riyadh sometime around the same time... Abdurrahman Wahid, a conservative Muslim leader who later became president himself, was one of those who had his doubts about the Komando Jihad. Especially sine it's in the interests of "conservative Muslim leaders" to paint it as a frameup. Indonesia has a deepening problem with radicalised Islam. And while it is too early to say who is behind the Bali bombing, two things seem clear. First, analysts are bound to be looking closely at some of Indonesia's more radical Islamic groups, some of which have links with like-minded groups in Malaysia and the southern Philippines. Second, it seems clear that some of Soeharto's Komando Jihad chickens seem to be coming home to roost. That means it's more than just a potato in the Islamic stew... Indonesia has had periodic problems with radical Islamic groups in the 52 years since the proclamation of independence. Indeed, one such group, Hizbullah, predated the republic by the best part of a year, having been set up late in the war by Beppan, a special intelligence unit of Japan's occupying army. The Japanese had hoped to marshall the power of Islam to oppose an expected Allied invasion and they trained 500 Muslim fighters, although not with the same commitment with which they had earlier trained the 37,000 men who formed the core of the future Indonesian Army. That's why the military has such a grand tradition... Some of those young Muslim men played a central role in the Darul Islam (House of Islam) movement, which fought a bitter but unsuccessful 14-year (1948-62) campaign to establish an Islamic state in Indonesia. In the 1970s, Moertopo went to the jails and persuaded some Islamic radicals to work with the army. "He was trying to use them," said Aristides Katoppo, chief editor of Sinar Harapan, a leading Indonesian daily. "But they were not just being passive. There was an imbalance of power but some of them worked within the constraints. They still had their ideological orientation." You can't make pets out of snakes... According to a recent study by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, the men directing current Islamic unrest in Indonesia draw their inspiration from the Darul Islam. They made contact with like-minded individuals when working for Moertopo or while serving time in jail. They have since gone on to forge more dangerous links. "One network of militant Muslims has produced all the Indonesian nationals so far suspected of links to al-Qaeda." The network has as its hub a religious boarding school in Central Java, known as Pondok Ngruki. If you haven't read the ICG report on the Nguki network, it's a pretty interesting piece of work. Indonesia, and the helpful Japanese, planted the seeds, but they've been watered and fertilized with generous helpings of Soddy money. You read it here first. Thanks to Paul for the link! |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |