NU chairman calls on violent groups to disband

NU chairman calls on violent groups to disband

JAKARTA (JP): The Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim organization has
called for the disbandment of so-called suicide squads and other
movements or groups associated with violence, stating that they
were a major concern to the general public.

NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi said that while such groups were
often vaguely related to the NU, it had actually nothing to do
with any group associated with or threatening violence, such as
the ready-to-die volunteers and the jihad volunteers.

"We call upon them to immediately disband," he said.

NU members were also prohibited from engaging in violent
actions and told to be on the look out for provocateurs.

Muzadi also apologized for the behavior of NU security guards
in connection with Friday's incident when the guards attacked
protesters outside the NU's office on Jl. Agus Salim in Central
Jakarta.

"The security guards were new and had just arrived from East
Java. This incident should not have happened and the guards
should not have acted so emotionally," Hasyim told reporters.

In the first intimation of the kind of chaos that might occur
during or after Sunday's mass prayer meeting, a number of
unidentified men from the NU office pushed and then physically
attacked a group of protesting non-governmental organization
(NGO) members outside the NU office.

The protesting group, who called themselves "The Non-Violent
Public," comprised about 70 people and were at the NU office to
voice their objections to all political moves that involved
violence.

Security guards emerged from the office to speak to the
protesters. Suddenly, four men came rushing out of the office and
started to forcibly shove and then kick the protesters, including
some women.

A number of different groups, including the death squad, jihad
volunteers and the Defenders of the Truth Force have pledged to
support President Abdurrahman Wahid and are to participate in the
mass prayer meeting to be held by the NU at the Bung Karno sports
center in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Sunday.

Meanwhile, National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Andi
Djamarro said on Friday that security personnel must take
resolute action against any supporters of the President found
acting violently or causing disturbances in the capital.

Separately, the stationmaster of Senen railroad station in
Central Jakarta, Besar Susmiarto, said on Friday that about 3,800
participants in the mass prayer were expected to have arrived at
Senen station by Sunday.

At least 168 people arrived at the station on Friday from
Surabaya, East Java. Upon disembarking, the new arrivals were
frisked by police for offensive weapons, but the officers found
nothing.

Leading the participants was the chief of the Ansor Youth
Movement in Gresik, Mohamad Subur, who said that both he and his
group would be leaving the capital again on May 1.

A new cause for concern emerged with the announcement on
Friday by the organizing committee chairman of the "One Million
(Muslim) Adherents" Action Front, Al Chaidar, who said that a
mass rally "aimed at establishing peace in the nation," was
scheduled to be held at the National Monument Park (Monas) on May
1, the day after the House plenary session.

The concern was heightened when Jakarta Police spokesman Sr.
Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam said on Friday that Chaidar had told
police officers that his group had requested pro-Gus Dur
supporters not to leave the capital immediately after Sunday's
mass prayers.

From Semarang, Central Java, it was reported that the Central
Java chapter of the United Development Party (PPP) has prohibited
its members from taking part in the planned NU mass prayer
meeting.

Central Java's PPP chairman Hisyam Ali said they had been told
to pray at home or in mosques for sake of the nation's well-
being.

"It would be better if PPP members were not riled by the
istighosah (mass prayer) in Jakarta," he said.

Central Java's governor Mardiyanto also called on the
province's residents to remain calm and not to allow themselves
to be provoked by conflicts among the political elite. He also
warned residents living along the main roads to East Java to stay
alert.

In a related development, around 40 buses departed on Friday
from Purwokerto for Jakarta with hundreds of NU members on board,
and are expected to arrive in the capital early on Saturday.

In Surabaya, a spokesman for the state railroad company PT
Kereta Api Indonesia, Sudarsono, said that sales of business and
executive class tickets for Jakarta had dropped by 50 percent due
to rising anxiety about possible outbreaks of violence in Jakarta
ahead of the mass gathering.

Meanwhile, some passengers intending to participate in the
mass prayer said they would stay about one week in Jakarta.

Around 200 supporters of the President departed from the town
of Gresik in East Java. Before they boarded the train, security
personnel checked them for weapons but none were found.

The group is planning to stay at several Islamic boarding
schools in Jakarta. (team)