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Southeast Asia
Bombers attend party at anti-terrorism chief's house
2007-10-11

CONVICTED Bali nightclub bombers have feasted on kebabs with Indonesia's anti-terrorism chief at an evening party held at his house. The party, which brought together more than 20 Muslim hardliners and former terrorists who have shown "regret" for their actions, was the latest "soft" strategy in Indonesia's anti-terror campaign to try and turn former militants into informers, or advocates of religious moderation.

"We approach the terrorists with a pure heart,'' Brigadier General Surya Dharma, the head of Indonesia's anti-terror unit and host of the party, told Associated Press. "We are all Muslims. We make them our brothers, not our enemy."
I'm kinda confused by this logic thing, so try to bear with me for a bit. If A is a murderous rat bastard terrorist and B states that both A and B are similar, brothers in fact, not each other's enemy, doesn't that mean that A=B? Further if A is in fact the enemy of C and not C's brother in fact, doesn't that make B the enemy of C as well? So why is there any constraint on C from leveling B's country?
Mubarok, who is serving a life sentence for planning and carrying out the Bali bombings, was temporarily released from prison to attend the party, which was free of armed guards. He led the prayers at the celebration, timed to coincide with the breaking of the fast during the holy month of Ramadan. "We did not stop to think, what if one of our family was caught up in the blasts? Now we are aware what we did was wrong,'' Mubarok, who goes by a single name, said.
"Our only thought was that we were gonna kill lotsa infidel C's."
Financial rewards
Prisoners such as Mubarok who cooperate with Indonesian authorities look forward to shorter sentences and financial rewards. "We learn who can be turned and look after them,'' Col. Tito Karnavian, the head of intelligence at the anti-terrorism unit, told Associated Press. "And they then recruit people. We call it 'creeping de-radicalisation.' We should not treat terrorists all the same. We should learn their culture and then exploit it.''

A few prisoners work publicly with authorities - one former Jemaah Islamiah leader Nasir Abbas sometimes briefs media alongside police. Most remain behind the scenes, identifying a voice recording or meeting with fellow detainees to try and change their fundamentalist views.

Ali Imron, another former militant serving life for the Bali bombings, said an unnamed cleric had issued an edict calling for his death because of his close links with police. "Everything has a risk, but I have chosen my path,'' he told Associated Press. "I am doing what is right.''

The fifth anniversary of the Bali bombings is October 12.
Posted by:Oztralian

#8  People are starving in the over-breeding capital of the world, and they provide a feast for convicted terrorists and their supporters. Makes sense to a moron.
Posted by: McZoid   2007-10-11 18:04  

#7  Well, this is news. When Indonesia was confronted by the ethnic Chinese insurgency back in the 60's and 70's their army showed no mercy. They removed all the ethnics they could round up (at least those that didn't have enough rupiahs to remain in Jakarta and Surabaya) and sent them packing to Kalimantan Timur (Eastern Borneo). Then to make sure they didn't just disappear into the rain forest and join forces with the Orang-Utans they stationed their top counter-insurgency forces there to keep it all under control. This is a big departure and it shows the both the Indonesian Army and the Turkish Army are facing a similar dilemma and are going soft on Islam.
Posted by: Jack is Back!   2007-10-11 16:38  

#6  One side of me says maybe this'll work, the other side says maybe the general's balls will be the main course for one of his nice dinners some night...
Posted by: tu3031   2007-10-11 15:48  

#5  A cockroach in the employ of muzz government or military is still a cockroach...
Posted by: M. Murcek   2007-10-11 09:45  

#4  "We approach the terrorists with a pure heart", says the head of Indonesia's anti-terror unit.

And do the terrorists approach the head of Indonesia's anti-terror unit with a pure heart too ? Or with the aim of... cutting the head of the head ?
Posted by: Leroidavid   2007-10-11 07:50  

#3  I hope the next time a tsunami strikes in that part of the world this article is well publicized.
Posted by: Grumenk Philalzabod0723   2007-10-11 02:30  

#2  Kill. Bond. Them. All. Now.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-10-11 01:21  

#1  LOL, you just beat me to this post.

Also from the article:

Few hard-liners will admit to assisting police and many still hold views that mainstream Muslims would consider extreme. Several appear to be motivated as much by financial reward as anything else.

Co-option through corruption sounds like such a promising long-term solution, doesn't it?
Posted by: ryuge   2007-10-11 00:10  

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