Islam has no link to terrorism: Mega

Islam has no link to terrorism: Mega

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia condemned terrorists on Friday for abusing Islamic
teachings to justify their acts of violence and vowed to fight it
out against acts of terrorism.

Speaking before the People's Consultative Assembly, President
Megawati Soekarnoputri said in spite of statements from the
captured terror suspects who defended their activities in the
name of Islam, it was clear that the religion and its followers
had no connection at all with their acts.

"Their blind fanaticism toward an extreme religious teaching,
ignoring human lives and property and setting indiscriminate
targets, and their ability to use explosive materials... all have
made the domestic branch of international terrorism a terrifying
threat," she told the MPR Annual Session.

Megawati was presenting her progress report on how far her
administration had implemented the state guidelines over the past
year.

She reminded the Session that the discovery of an
international terrorist network in the country should raise
public awareness that Indonesia was not only a target of
international terrorism, but the hotbed for terror planners,
perpetrators and supporters.

In order to safeguard the public from the clear and present
danger, the government had to act to unravel the terrorist
network, she said.

The President's statement came amid fears of intensifying
terror attacks in the predominantly Muslim country, following a
series of bomb blasts over the past few years.

The latest attack took place on July 14 inside the MPR
compound in Senayan, Central Jakarta, just two weeks before the
start of the Annual Session. Although it did not claim any lives,
the blast provided proof that even such a vital and secure venue
was prone to terrorist attacks.

The nation is still licking its wound from the worst act of
terror that rocked the resort island of Bali on Oct. 12, 2002,
killing 202 people, mostly foreign holidaymakers.

The National Police said regional terror network Jamaah
Islamiyah (JI) was behind the Bali bombings and alleged that JI
had links to al-Qaeda, the international terrorist network blamed
for the attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

Police have arrested more than 30 people allegedly involved in
the Bali blasts.

Later in the day, United States Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph
L. Boyce said that after a string of terrorist attacks, the
security condition here was improving.

However, he warned that people in the country should remain on
the alert as future terror attacks would not elude Indonesia.