RI wages 'two-front war' on terrorism<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The police and Muslim leaders are waging a war against domestic
\nterrorism on two fronts, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said here on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
The Vice President said the police were fighting on the
\nphysical front, while the ulema were battling on the ideological
\nfront.<\/p>\n
\"There are two kinds of war against terrorists. The first is
\nthe physical war. The second, which is the most important one, is
\nthe ideological war,\" Kalla said during a ceremony at National
\nPolice Headquarters in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
He said the police-led war against terror had to be carried
\nout in conjunction with efforts by Muslim leaders to counter the
\nfalse Islamic teachings being spread by the terrorists.<\/p>\n
Indonesia can only win the war against terrorism with the full
\nsupport of religious leaders, Kalla said.<\/p>\n
The Vice President said that as long as their false teachings
\nwent unchallenged, terrorists would be able to recruit new
\nmembers to replace those killed or captured by the police.<\/p>\n
\"What is happening is that (we) arrest 10 people, but the
\n(false) ideology continues unchallenged and the extremists
\nrecruit 1,550 more people. A well-coordinated two-front war is
\nnecessary, and it must be supported by all of society,\" Kalla
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The Vice President praised Muslim clerics for their
\nwillingness to join the government-led war against terrorism.<\/p>\n
Last week, Kalla showed dozens of Muslim clerics a video
\nseized by police during the raid that killed top terror suspect
\nAzahari bin Husin. The video, allegedly made by another Malaysian
\nterror suspect, Noordin M. Top, says the Bali suicide bombings on
\nOct. 1 were part of a holy war against the West.<\/p>\n
In the video, the Bali suicide bombers displayed no remorse
\nfor what they planned and said they believed they would go to
\nheaven for their role in the jihad against the \"enemies of
\nIslam\".<\/p>\n
\"We are pleased that Islamic clerics have declared war on this
\nideology,\" Kalla said.<\/p>\n
The government has established an antiterror task force
\ncomprised of Muslim leaders to counter militant ideas promoted by
\nterrorist groups responsible for bombings in the country.<\/p>\n
Many ulema here have condemned terrorist attacks in the name
\nof jihad, saying the terrorists have misinterpreted the Koranic
\nverses on holy war.<\/p>\n
Separately, Nahdlatul Ulama leader Hasyim Muzadi, who is also
\na member of the antiterror task force, said mainstream Islamic
\norganizations would begin publishing books to counter those
\npublished by militants and terrorists such as Imam Samudra, who
\nis currently on death row for the first Bali bombings.<\/p>\n
\"The concept of jihad as discussed in their books is not
\ncorrect and not accurate,\" he said in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Hasyim, whose organization has some 40 million members,
\nsaid Islam forbade the killing of anyone but clearly identified
\nenemies in a war zone.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia is not a war zone. They (the terrorists) say their
\ntarget is the United States and its allies, but the victims of
\ntheir bombings include Indonesians. A fight using religious
\nsymbols is forbidden in a non-war zone such as Indonesia,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-wages-two-front-war-on-terrorism-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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