NU irked by minister for deploying militia

NU irked by minister for deploying militia

SIDOARJO, East Java: The Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) central board
has announced plans to officially reprimand Saifullah Yusuf, who
chairs the organization's youth wing Ansor, after he deployed a
paramilitary group during a meeting of the NU-founded National
Awakening Party (PKB).

Hundreds of Banser members, a private paramilitary militia
that is a unit of Ansor, were seen guarding the two-day national
working meeting of a splinter PKB camp led by chief welfare
minister Alwi Shihab, which ends on Sunday.

"The move to mobilize Banser at the meeting was a dangerous
one, because it could potentially drag NU into the internal
conflict of PKB ... Therefore, the NU central board will discuss
the issue and reprimand him," NU deputy leader Achmad Bagdja said
on Saturday.

Alwi and Saifullah, also the current state minister for the
development of disadvantaged regions, were both suspended as PKB
leader and secretary-general, respectively, last year for joining
the Cabinet of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The rift culminated last April when the PKB elected Muhaimin
Iskandar as its new leader and retained Abdurrahman Wahid as
chief patron. --Antara