U.S. yet to link RI groups to int'l terrorist cells: Boyce<\/p>\n
Agencies, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Despite mounting pressure for Washington to cease spreading what
\nmany leaders here call \"black propaganda\" against Indonesia, the
\nU.S. ambassador insisted on Tuesday that terrorist cells are
\noperating in the world's largest Muslim country and urged it to
\ncounter them.<\/p>\n
\"We are seeing indications that they are here. We just can't
\navoid this,\" Ralph Boyce told a group of Muslim leaders who
\nbombarded him with questions about the evidence behind the U.S.'s
\nallegations of an international terrorist network operating in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
But he said Washington had not yet linked any hard-line groups
\nhere, which have been campaigning for an Islamic state, to global
\nterrorist organizations.<\/p>\n
\"There is a misperception that the U.S. has labeled them as
\ninternational terrorist organizations,\" Boyce said, referring to
\ngroups such as Laskar Jihad, the Islam Defenders' Front (FPI) and
\nthe Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI).<\/p>\n
Singapore has accused elderly MMI leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir of
\nhaving links to a regional terrorist network.<\/p>\n
In Hanoi on Tuesday, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for
\nEast Asia and Pacific, Matthew Daley, said Washington was
\nconsidering designating Ba'asyir's group as \"what we technically
\ncall a foreign terrorist organization\".<\/p>\n
Tuesday's dialog with Boyce was attended by around 20 Muslim
\nleaders including Muhammadiyah Deputy chairman Din Syamsuddin,
\nNahdlatul Ulama (NU) leaders Ahmad Bagja and Cecep Syarifuddin,
\nand Umar Shihab from the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI).<\/p>\n
Also present were Hussein Umar of the Indonesian Islamic
\nCouncil (DII), Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals
\n(ICMI) secretary-general Marwah Daud Ibrahim and representatives
\nfrom the United Islam (Persis) and Al-Irsyad organizations, and
\nthe Indonesian Committee for World Muslim Solidarity (Kisdi).<\/p>\n
Din, who presided over the meeting, said it was held at the
\nrequest of the U.S. envoy.<\/p>\n
The dialog, which took place at Muhammadiyah headquarters, was
\nthe third since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks blamed on Osama
\nbin Laden's al-Qaeda group.<\/p>\n
\"We have been saying since Sept. 11 that al-Qaeda is in dozens
\nand dozens of countries ... and (it) has been active in
\nIndonesia,\" Boyce asserted.<\/p>\n
\"Just because you cannot see them (international terrorist
\ncells), it does not mean that they are not there,\" he argued.<\/p>\n
He appealed to Indonesian leaders to refrain from \"attacking
\nthe (U.S.) messenger\" and instead focus on the dangers al-Qaeda
\nposed.<\/p>\n
The security authorities here have arrested several suspects,
\nall believed to be foreign citizens, accused of being connected
\nwith the al-Qaeda terrorist network.<\/p>\n
\"It's an Indonesian responsibility that will have an
\nIndonesian solution,\" said Boyce, who earlier urged the
\ngovernment here to \"do even more\" to confront terrorism.<\/p>\n
\"It's not a solution that will be imposed on you by the United
\nStates. For it to have any success, it will have to come from
\nIndonesia.\"<\/p>\n
His comments followed public criticism of the U.S. by
\nprominent religious and youth leaders who asked it to refrain
\nfrom spreading what they described as \"disinformation\" against
\nIndonesia, and warned that such disinformation would only further
\nencourage widespread resentment against Washington.<\/p>\n
They also demanded that the U.S. provide clear, hard proof of
\nits recent claims that terrorist cells were operating in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Boyce said that a recent Time magazine report based on
\nallegedly leaked CIA documents was not an official report from
\nhis government.<\/p>\n
The magazine said in its Sept. 23 issue that an alleged al-
\nQaeda senior operative, Omar al-Faruq -- who was arrested in June
\nin Bogor, West Java -- admitted he had plotted to kill President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri in May 1999 when she was running for the
\npresidency.<\/p>\n
In a response to the report, Din accused Washington, in
\ncooperation with \"certain Indonesian elements\", of spreading a
\n\"self-fulfilling prophesy\" to pit Muslims against nationalists
\nhere.<\/p>\n
\"We never knew when and how al-Faruq was arrested in Indonesia
\nand deported to the U.S., but we were suddenly surprised by a
\nreport from far away that he planned to kill Megawati,\" he told
\nThe Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"It shows an evil scenario that will have the impact of
\ndamaging the image of Islam,\" Din added.<\/p>",
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