Government insists JI not exist in Indonesia

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After supporting the inclusion of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) on the United Nations list of terrorists, the government insisted on Monday that the al-Qaeda-linked terror group did not exist in the country.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that the government had never linked the organization to any radical groups in this country.

"From our police investigation Jamaah Islamiyah does not exist in the country. However, we will conduct an investigation into that possibility as it is required by the UN," he said in a press briefing on Monday.

Indonesia was among 45 countries in support of Australia's proposal to include JI on the UN terrorist list. The UN declared JI a terrorist group on Friday for its links to al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden's brainchild, responsible for the Sept. 11 attack on the United States last year.

As a UN member, Indonesia has an obligation to support the decision in all its forms, including to freeze any assets, impose travel bans and stop any possible military activities related to JI.

Susilo once admitted that three Indonesian citizens, the late Abdullah Sungkar, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir and Riduan Isamuddin, aka Hambali, were the top leaders of the organization.

The government has ordered the arrest of Ba'asyir in connection with several bombing cases in the country, which Susilo himself categorized as terrorist actions.

However, the government is in denial of even their own recent statements, and have ruled out the possibility of JI or any of its cell's existence here.

"We are supporting the inclusion (of JI on UN terror list) as we respect the investigations done by Singapore and Malaysia regarding the presence of the organization in their countries," Susilo said.

On Friday, Susilo said that the three Indonesians were only leaders of JI when they were in Malaysia 14 years ago.

"That is why the government will not immediately accuse these leaders as part of JI now. We will go through with the investigation as stipulated in the UN resolution, but we will do it using our own laws," the minister emphasized.

Susilo added that only with concrete evidence would the government link Ba'asyir or certain Muslim groups in the country with JI.

"The government is aware that the inclusion of JI has raised concerns from many Muslims as they are afraid they could be considered as having an affiliation with JI," he said.

"Be sure that the government will not do that. We will not relate any group in Indonesia to JI without hard and fast evidence," Susilo asserted.