Military links hamper fight against radicalism: Analysts<\/p>\n
Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Efforts to combat militancy and radicalism could face perennial
\nhurdles as certain military officers still have strong
\nrelationships with extremist Islamic movements in the country,
\nanalysts said here on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The reluctance of security authorities to crack down on
\nradical activities in recent years provided evidence that such
\nrelations between the military and extremist groups remained
\nstrong, yet covert, they told a seminar on Islamic militant
\nmovements in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
However, prominent military analyst Hasnan Habib said the
\nlinks between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and extremist
\nmovements were \"unofficial but individual relationships\".<\/p>\n
He attributed the present state to poor professionalism on the
\npart of the Indonesian Military (TNI), which he said is facing a
\nsetback in its internal reforms.<\/p>\n
Sydney Jones, Indonesian project director of the International
\nCrisis Group (ICG), put the militant groups-military relations
\ninto three categories.<\/p>\n
First, the relations could bode well in the form of arms
\nsupplies and military training for radical groups, widely blamed
\nfor terror attacks across Indonesia, she said.<\/p>\n
Second, military elements deliberately used Islamic militant
\ngroups to help serve their political agenda, despite the current
\nera of reform.<\/p>\n
And third, the military deliberately infiltrated militant
\nmovements to watch out for possible danger and assist the
\nsurvival of the country, she added.<\/p>\n
Hasnan and another political analyst, Indria Samego, shared
\nJones' opinion, saying certain military elements have established
\nclose links with those groups up until the present.<\/p>\n
\"I can agree with you (Jones),\" Hasnan, who is a former
\nIndonesian ambassador to the United States, said, commenting on
\nthe three categories of relationships.<\/p>\n
He said that under the current political transition, the
\nmilitary remains free to do whatever it wants, including
\nprotecting militant groups for their own interests, as it is
\nstill a powerful political force.<\/p>\n
Laskar Jihad, one of the radical Muslim movements, was blamed
\nfor exacerbating the three-year religious conflict in Maluku
\nislands.<\/p>\n
The group members managed to enter Maluku, which has been
\nplaced under a civilian emergency status since 2000, without
\nbeing challenged by security forces, even though the president,
\nAbdurrahman Wahid, ordered authorities to block their arrival.<\/p>\n
Laskar Jihad also joined Muslim gangs during the sectarian
\nfighting with Christians in the Central Sulawesi regency of Poso.<\/p>\n
The military was condemned widely for its pivotal role in
\nestablishing militia blamed for atrocities in East Timor in 1999.<\/p>\n
All this showed the military's involvement in protecting
\nmilitant movements, Hasnan said.<\/p>\n
\"As you and others have know, before Laskar Jihad waged war in
\nMaluku they were trained by the military,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Indria Samego, from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences
\n(LIPI), echoed Hasnan's statement, that the military was \"still
\ninvolved deeply in political movements\" by radical Muslims,
\nciting as evidence the Laskar Jihad's unchallenged presence in
\nMaluku and Poso.<\/p>\n
Other evidence included the resistance by military leaders of
\nthe planned appointment of the late three-star Army general, Agus
\nWirahadikusuma, as the new TNI chief, by then president
\nAbdurrahman, in 2001.<\/p>\n
Agus was widely dubbed as one of the reform-minded generals,
\nwhom Abdurrahman had wanted to use to rid the military of
\nextremist elements.<\/p>\n
Indria said the Army would maintain its relationships with
\nextremist groups until the country ends the prolonged
\ntransitional political period, and develops into a strong civil
\nsociety.<\/p>\n
The transitional period has given wide opportunities to the
\nmilitant movements to consolidate their strength with help from
\nmilitary officers, he argued.<\/p>",
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