Probe into JI network demanded

Probe into JI network demanded

Muhammad Nafik
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

Muslim scholars have urged the Indonesian government to act
swiftly to uncover and root out Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) as part of
its efforts to combat global terrorism.

However, they could not say whether the militant group is
linked to the Indonesian Mujahiddin Council (MMI) led by Abu
Bakar Ba'asyir.

Ba'asyir, currently being treated in a hospital in Surakarta,
Central Java, has been arrested by Indonesian authorities for his
alleged involvement in a series of bombings across the country.

The Singapore government have accused the elderly Muslim
cleric of being the leader of JI. He has at all times denied the
accusations.

However, the scholars said Thursday that authorities should
launch an investigation to ascertain the extent of JI's
activities in the world's largest Islamic country.

The United States has designated JI as a terrorist
organization allied with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda which has
been blamed for the deadly attacks in New York and Washington on
Sept. 11, 2001.

The U.S. and its allies are reportedly lobbying the United
Nations to declare JI an international terrorist group over its
alleged roles in bombings across Southeast Asia and a plan to
crash a plane into Singapore's international airport.

"I support any move to investigate Jamaah Islamiyah's
existence here. If uncovered, it must be banned, its members
arrested and its assets frozen," Ulil Abshar Abdalla, a Muslim
scholar from the 40-million strong Nahdlatul Ulama organization,
told The Jakarta Post.

"I don't believe Ba'asyir was likely involved in the Bali
bombings or directly connected with al-Qaeda, but I believe he
may be linked to JI as its spiritual leader ... It's should
however be proven through legal processes," he added.

Ulil said the fact that Ba'asyir had lived in Malaysia for 12
years before returning home after the downfall of former dictator
Soeharto in 1998, made it "very likely" he had established
relations with JI.

Unlike in Indonesia, JI or its cells are well known in
Malaysia and Singapore. The two neighboring countries and the
Philippines have arrested suspected JI members.

According to various intelligence agencies, JI has been
seeking to establish a theocratic Islamic state covering Southern
Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and the southern
Philippines island of Mindanao.

The exact number of the group's members remains unknown, but
reports estimates that cells in Malaysia may comprise 200 people.

Similarly, another Muslim scholar, Riza Sihbudi, from the
Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said an investigation
was needed to uncover JI's operations in the country.

"Because they are clandestine in nature, it would be hard to
trace JI's operations here. And I'm not sure it can be proven,
unless its existence is engineered by the authorities," he told
the Post.

Riza and Ulil said JI was little known among Indonesians,
including Muslims, due to the lack of publicity and unpopularity
of its figures.

"Jamaah Islamiyah is a new type of Jihad (holy war) movement
that surfaced in the 1990s in Southeast Asia. it consciously uses
violence as the basis of its organization in fighting America,"
Ulil said.

"It is a dangerous organization as it campaigns for a
globalized jihad."