Hamzah says jihad ban for good of the pulic

Hamzah says jihad ban for good of the pulic

Febiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Vice President Hamzah Haz said on Saturday that the
government's policy to prohibit Muslims from going to Afghanistan
to fight in a jihad was for their own safety.

Hamzah said that the government had an obligation to ensure
the safety of its citizens at home and overseas.

The Indonesian government issued a ban on Thursday against
citizens from travelling to Afghanistan to fight the U.S. It
reminded them that the local immigration law mandated revocation
of the passport of any citizen who illegally goes to war in a
foreign country.

Hamzah said that the government was only reiterating its state
obligation to assure the safety of its citizens.

"So it should not be interpreted as prohibiting people (from
going to Afghanistan)," he told journalists after attending the
graduation ceremony of the Al-quran Institute, Jakarta.

"Should something happen to Indonesian volunteers, such as
getting injured, in Afghanistan then it is the government that
would have to take care of them. So that is the underlying
message that the government wanted to convey to the public," he
said.

Hamzah Haz is also chairman of the Muslim-based United
Development Party (PPP) and has his eyes on the presidency after
the 2004 general elections.

Hundreds of Muslims have reportedly signed up with militant
groups for a holy war in Afghanistan should the U.S. go ahead
with strikes against the Central Asian country.

The militant Indonesian Islamic Youth Group (GPII), for
example, claims it has registered 625 volunteers willing to go to
Afghanistan to defend the Taliban regime that Washington has
accused of hiding Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the Oct.
11 attacks on America.

Hamzah said that the government had yet to decide if citizens
illegally going to war abroad would have their passports revoked.

"No, no, it is not like that, who said that?" he asked when
questioned about the immigration officials' threat.

In his speech at the graduation ceremony, Hamzah reiterated
that Islam was not synonymous with Osama bin Laden and terrorism,
as was usually stereotyped.

He said that it was unfair to attribute terrorism to Islam
simply because bin Laden was Muslim.

"I hope all of you behave like real Muslims and show that
Islam doesn't condone anarchy but peace," he said.