UN puts JI on al-Qaeda blacklist<\/p>\n
Agencies
\nUnited Nations\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The United Nations added on Friday the East Asian Islamist group
\nJamaah Islamiyah (JI) to its list of groups and people whose
\nassets should be frozen due to suspected ties to Osama bin Laden
\nor his al-Qaeda network.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Police say the deadly Oct. 12 bombing of nightclubs
\nin Bali bore the hallmarks of the Jamaah Islamiyah, a militant
\ngroup which the United States believes operates in Indonesia,
\nSingapore, Malaysia and possibly the Philippines.<\/p>\n
Washington designated the group a \"foreign terrorist
\norganization\" and froze any U.S. assets earlier this week.<\/p>\n
It also joined 12 Asian countries in asking the United Nations
\nto do the same.<\/p>\n
But a U.S. statement said the designation did not imply that
\nWashington had reached a conclusion on who was responsible for
\nthe Oct. 12 bombing on the Indonesian resort island that killed
\nmore than 180 people.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Indonesia's two largest Muslim organizations
\nreiterated on Saturday that the vast majority of Muslims in the
\ncountry had nothing to do with JI.<\/p>\n
Solahuddin Wahid, leader of the 40-million-strong Nahdlatul
\nUlama (NU), said the Indonesian government should be cautious in
\nresponding to the UN's decision in order to prevent reactions
\nfrom Muslims.<\/p>\n
Linking Jamaah Islamiyah to al-Qaeda should not lead to
\nbranding other Islamic organizations as terrorist groups, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"The government has to differentiate between the groups
\nclearly using violence and those using peaceful means in their
\nstruggle,\" Solahuddin added.<\/p>\n
Ahmad Syafii Maarif, chairman of the country's second largest
\nMuslim organization Muhammadiyah, said any moves to generalize
\nand label Indonesian Muslims as terrorists must be thwarted.<\/p>\n
\"Only narrow-minded people claim that Islam in Indonesia is
\npart of Jamaah Islamiyah, whereas JI is only a small part of all
\nthe Muslim groups numbering thousands in the country,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Syafii urged the government to take a firm stance in defending
\nthe country's sovereignty in handing terrorism. \"The country
\nshould not continue to bow to pressure from the United States. As
\nthe leader of a Muslim group, I don't want either to do so,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Putting groups and individuals on the UN list obliges the
\nUnited Nations' 191 member-nations to freeze their funds and
\nother assets and block their movements.<\/p>\n
The goal of the UN list, which is maintained by a UN Security
\nCouncil committee and currently has more than 300 names of
\nbusinesses, individuals and organizations, is to deprive alleged
\nterrorists of the money and other resources they need to carry
\nout attacks.<\/p>\n
It has led to the blocking of more than US$100 million in
\nassets over the past year in various countries.<\/p>\n
Most of the names on the UN list have come from Washington,
\nwhich blames bin Laden, al-Qaeda and Afghanistan's ousted Taliban
\nleaders for the hijack attacks on the United States that killed
\nmore than 3,000 people.<\/p>\n
But China, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Kyrgyzstan have also
\ncontributed names.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/un-puts-ji-on-al-qaeda-blacklist-1447893297",
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