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)