Government wants jihad force to leave Maluku

Government wants jihad force to leave Maluku

JAKARTA (JP): The government said on Wednesday it wanted all
Laskar Jihad (Jihad Force) Muslim group members to leave Maluku
because their presence would only worsen the fragile situation in
the riot-torn region.

Acting Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and
Security Lt. Gen. (ret) Surjadi Soedirdja described the group's
intention as to "cause trouble".

"My statement may possibly be misperceived by the Laskar
Jihad, because in their perception, their arrival in the area of
conflict is to eliminate their enemies," the minister said after
receiving a delegation of foreign plantation investors from
Sumatra at his office.

Surjadi, who is also the minister of home affairs, expressed
astonishment at the arrival of about 200 members of the Muslim
group from outside of Maluku and North Maluku provinces because
the government had worked hard to prevent them entering the
region.

"Actually, the government has done everything to prevent them
from entering the area of conflict, through containment by the
police and the military as well as through surveillance by the
communication ministry," the minister said as quoted by Antara.

President Abdurrahman Wahid has vowed not to allow the group
to send their members to Maluku. However, government officials
later said its members could come to the province as long as they
were unarmed.

Spokesman for the Maluku provincial administration Cak Semima
said on Tuesday some 1,200 members of Laskar Jihad entered
Ambon's Yos Sudarso Port on Sunday on the KM Rinjani passenger
ship.

He said the group went straight to the Al Fatah mosque near
the port.

Semima said he had obtained the information from a police
intelligence unit.

"The governor has already been notified about the group's
arrival. Their representatives said that they are here to do
humanitarian work and that they come in peace," Semima said.

According to police data, the volunteers were later dispatched
to several areas in Ambon including Air Salobar in Pohon Mangga
subdistrict, Kapahaha, and Batu Merah in the border of Karang
Panjang and Batu Merah districts.

A police source said the group is led by Umar Jawas from
Jember, East Java.

"He works with an uztad (Islamic teacher) named Ali Fauzi here
in Ambon. We will keep monitoring their activities to avoid any
possible dispute," the source said.

Laskar Jihad Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah chief Jafar Umar Thalib
said a total of 3,000 group members would leave for Ambon through
Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya, the capital of East Java,
beginning on Sunday.

Pattimura Military commander Brig. Gen. Max Tamaela has issued
a letter to Maluku authorities temporarily barring Yos Sudarso
Port from any ships from outside Maluku and North Maluku in a bid
to curb members of Laskar Jihad from entering the islands.

However, until Tuesday afternoon activities in Yos Sudarso
Port were normal. (48/edt/prb)