`Bali attack result of internal politics'

`Bali attack result of internal politics'

Supalak Ganjanakhundee, The Nation, Asia News Network, Bangkok

Visiting American Indonesianist Benedict Anderson said here on
Thursday that internal political affairs were more likely behind
the Oct. 12 Bali bombing than international militant groups such
as al-Qaeda.

Private conversations in Indonesia these days rarely mentioned
that the bombing was commanded by al-Qaeda, said the professor
who recently returned from Indonesia.

Al-Qaeda, founded by Saudi-born millionaire Osama bin Laden,
mostly attack American interests due to Washington's support for
Israel, and its operational areas are in or near the Middle East
where there are plenty of the U.S. interests, he said.

"Bali is neither of political nor economic importance, and
killing young Australians does not make sense in al-Qaeda's point
of view," said Anderson at a seminar hosted by Five Area Studies
Project at Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre.

Anderson, nevertheless, supported arguments that Jamaah
Islamiyah (JI), the regional terrorist group, was responsible for
the Bali blasts.

JI has deep roots in Indonesian history. Some of its members
originally fought against the Dutch colonialists in the 1940s, he
said.

"The history of extremist Islamic Indonesians began long
before Osama Bin Laden was born," he said.

The professor from Cornell University suggested that
Indonesian state apparatus, notably the military, used to be
involved in many acts of terrorism in the country.

Deposed authoritarian ruler Soeharto founded the Komando
Djihad in the 1970s as a "black operations" unit to fight
communist movements, he said.

This unit had been involved in many terrorism style acts of
violence in the country, he said. Some members of the unit were
privatized in order to help create violence for the commercial or
political gains of certain groups.

The C4 explosive used by the bombers in Bali is an American
product and is usually used by Indonesian military engineers and
the Red Beret Special Forces (Kopassus), Anderson said.

The masterminds behind the Bali bombing may be part of a
military faction that used to control East Timor and wanted to
hit back at Australia, which supported the territory's drive for
independence, he said.

They would also be the ones who would benefit from
reinstalling the military to the central position in Indonesia
politics, he added.

"It [Bali bombing] is not an international conspiracy by al-
Qaeda but is to do with domestic politics, especially this
military group which has a long experience in black operations,
he said. "Terrorists, in the case of Indonesia, can be found
within the state apparatus."