RI wages 'two-front war' on terrorism

RI wages 'two-front war' on terrorism

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The police and Muslim leaders are waging a war against domestic
terrorism on two fronts, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said here on
Tuesday.

The Vice President said the police were fighting on the
physical front, while the ulema were battling on the ideological
front.

"There are two kinds of war against terrorists. The first is
the physical war. The second, which is the most important one, is
the ideological war," Kalla said during a ceremony at National
Police Headquarters in Jakarta.

He said the police-led war against terror had to be carried
out in conjunction with efforts by Muslim leaders to counter the
false Islamic teachings being spread by the terrorists.

Indonesia can only win the war against terrorism with the full
support of religious leaders, Kalla said.

The Vice President said that as long as their false teachings
went unchallenged, terrorists would be able to recruit new
members to replace those killed or captured by the police.

"What is happening is that (we) arrest 10 people, but the
(false) ideology continues unchallenged and the extremists
recruit 1,550 more people. A well-coordinated two-front war is
necessary, and it must be supported by all of society," Kalla
said.

The Vice President praised Muslim clerics for their
willingness to join the government-led war against terrorism.

Last week, Kalla showed dozens of Muslim clerics a video
seized by police during the raid that killed top terror suspect
Azahari bin Husin. The video, allegedly made by another Malaysian
terror suspect, Noordin M. Top, says the Bali suicide bombings on
Oct. 1 were part of a holy war against the West.

In the video, the Bali suicide bombers displayed no remorse
for what they planned and said they believed they would go to
heaven for their role in the jihad against the "enemies of
Islam".

"We are pleased that Islamic clerics have declared war on this
ideology," Kalla said.

The government has established an antiterror task force
comprised of Muslim leaders to counter militant ideas promoted by
terrorist groups responsible for bombings in the country.

Many ulema here have condemned terrorist attacks in the name
of jihad, saying the terrorists have misinterpreted the Koranic
verses on holy war.

Separately, Nahdlatul Ulama leader Hasyim Muzadi, who is also
a member of the antiterror task force, said mainstream Islamic
organizations would begin publishing books to counter those
published by militants and terrorists such as Imam Samudra, who
is currently on death row for the first Bali bombings.

"The concept of jihad as discussed in their books is not
correct and not accurate," he said in Jakarta.

Hasyim, whose organization has some 40 million members,
said Islam forbade the killing of anyone but clearly identified
enemies in a war zone.

"Indonesia is not a war zone. They (the terrorists) say their
target is the United States and its allies, but the victims of
their bombings include Indonesians. A fight using religious
symbols is forbidden in a non-war zone such as Indonesia," he
said.