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| Southeast Asia |
| Indonesian president says IS 'embarrassing' Muslims |
| 2014-08-22 |
| [ARABNEWS] The president of Indonesia has called the actions of Islamic State snuffies "embarrassing" to the religion and urged religious leaders to unite in tackling extremism. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the scale of the slaughter wrought by the gunnies in overrunning large swathes of Iraq and Syria and the level of violence being used was appalling. "It is shocking. It is becoming out of control," he said in an interview with The Australian, a day after IS released a video showing a masked murderous Moslem beheading US news hound James Foley, provoking worldwide revulsion. "We do not tolerate it, we forbid ISIS in Indonesia," he added, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... , as IS was formerly known. "Indonesia is not an Islamic state. We respect all religions." He urged international leaders to work together to combat radicalization. "This is a new wake-up call to international leaders all over the world, including Islamic leaders," he said, adding that the actions of IS were not only "embarrassing" to Islam but "humiliating," the newspaper reported. "All leaders must review how to combat extremism. Changing paradigms on both sides are needed — how the West perceives Islam and how Islam perceives the West." Indonesia is home to the world's biggest Moslem population of about 225 million and has long struggled with terrorism. But a successful clampdown in recent years has seen the end of major deadly attacks. Jakarta has estimated that dozens of Indonesians have traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight and Yudhoyono said he was concerned about their return, adding that he had tasked agencies to oppose the spread of holy warrior ideology in the sprawling nation. "Our citizens here in Indonesia are picking up recruitment messages from ISIS containing holy warrior ideas," said the president, whose decade in office comes to an end in October. "The philosophy of ISIS stands against the fundamental values we embrace in Indonesia. Last Friday, in my state of the union address to the nation, I called on all Indonesians to reject ISIS and to stop the spread of its radical ideology. "My government and security agencies have taken decisive steps to curtail the spread of ISIS in Indonesia, including by prohibiting Indonesians to join ISIS or to fight for ISIS, and also by blocking Internet sites that promote this idea." Indonesia's neighbor Australia has also seen up to 150 of its nationals join the murderous Moslems, with the photo of an Australian boy holding a severed head in Syria last week sparking global condemnation. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Thursday said IS was "as close to pure evil as we're ever likely to find" and what happened to Foley was "sickening." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Only embarrassing as far as it was videoed and released world-wide. I prefer to call it letting the sunshine on what makes these goons tick. |
| Posted by: BA 2014-08-22 10:08 |
| #1 The truth can be embarrassing. |
| Posted by: gorb 2014-08-22 01:21 |