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.