MMI to push for sharia at congress

MMI to push for sharia at congress

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

The Indonesian Mujahidin Assembly (MMI), an extremist Muslim
group headed by terror suspect Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, will convene
its second congress next month in an attempt to pursue the
enforcement of Islamic sharia law in the predominantly Muslim
country.

The group was one of those behind demands the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR) include the Jakarta Charter in the
1945 Constitution during the Annual Session in 2002. Most MPR
factions rejected including Islamic law in the Constitution.

MMI chairman Irfan S. Awwas said on Tuesday that the upcoming
congress would focus on creating concrete programs to ensure
sharia was implemented in Indonesia.

"We have made up our mind not to move a bit from our ultimate
goal of establishing Islamic law in the country," he told a news
conference in Yogyakarta.

The three-day congress will be held from Aug. 10 to Aug. 12,
2003, in the Central Java city of Surakarta. Its main agenda also
includes hearing Ba'asyir's accountability speech and to elect
new members of the MMI's Ahlul Hali wal-Aqdi (board of experts).

However, it remains unclear if Ba'asyir will be permitted by
the Central Jakarta District Court to appear as he is standing
trial for plotting to kill President Megawati Soekarnoputri in
1999, when she was vice president.

"We are waiting for the confirmation from the court as to
whether it will allow Ustadz (teacher) Abu Bakar Ba'asyir to
attend the congress to present his accountability speech," Irfan
said.

He said the MMI did hope the court would allow its request for
the temporary release of Ba'asyir to attend the congress.

Irfan argued that it would be discriminatory if the court
rejected the request as other convicted criminals remained free,
including House of Representatives speaker Akbar Tandjung who has
been jailed for corruption.

"Ustadz Abu Bakar Ba'asyir is not convicted yet. I don't see
that there are reasons for the court not to give him the same
opportunity as that given to Akbar Tandjung," Irfan said.

However, he said that should Ba'asyir be prevented from
attending the congress, the MMI would attempt to have his
accountability speech recorded in a video to be heard during the
meeting.

Ba'asyir is the alleged spiritual leader of the Jamaah
Islamiyyah (JI) regional terror network blamed for the
devastating bomb blasts in Bali, which killed more than 200
people, mostly foreign tourists, on Oct. 12 last year. He has
denied the charges.

The Surakarta-based MMI was established in 2000 with the main
objective of establishing sharia in Indonesia, home to some 220
million people, more than 85 percent of whom are Muslims.

The group held its first congress in Yogyakarta and agreed
that the first step towards achieving its goal was to educate the
public about Islamic law.

The education programs included organizing seminars and
dialogs, and publishing MMI's own version of the sharia-based
constitution, Irfan said.

"So far, we consider it (the move) a success, although we have
encountered a stormy situation during this particular period."

Around 800 MMI activists will attend the congress, which is to
be opened at the Manahan Square, Surakarta.

Several Muslim figures, including preacher Zainuddin MZ, Din
Syamsuddin of Muhammadiyah, Alawy Muhammad of the United
Development Party (PPP), former head of the Indonesian
Intelligence Agency (Bakin) Z.A. Maulani and Husein Umar of the
Islamic Preaching Council (DDI), have confirmed their attendance
at the meeting.

The congress committee has invited National Police chief Gen.
Da'i Bachtiar to deliver a speech about the security authority's
stance on the implementation of sharia in Indonesia and its
relations with terrorism.

Da'i is yet to respond to the invitation.

The MMI claims to have established 38 executive boards in
regencies and municipalities, and 10 others in provinces across
the country, namely West Nusa Tenggara, Bali, East Java, Central
Java, West Java, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, South Sumatra, North
Sumatra and South Sulawesi.