Rift in terror group may pose long-term security problem: ICG
Rift in terror group may pose long-term security problem: ICG
Slobodan Lekik
Associated Press
Jakarta
An internal split inside the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group
has given rise to a radical fringe intent on stirring religious
hatred inside the world's largest Muslim nation - providing
fertile ground and potential recruits for al-Qaeda, a report said
Tuesday.
The October 2003 killing of 13 Christians in Central Sulawesi
indicated the changing nature of terrorism in Indonesia - with
small groups of holy warriors fighting sectarian conflicts posing
the biggest threat, said the report released by the International
Crisis Group (ICG).
With fewer than 10 of the dozens of radicals believed
responsible for the Oct. 12, 2002 Bali bombings still at large,
the immediate threat of another huge attack appears to have been
substantially reduced, said the Brussels-based think tank.
JI is a secretive network of radicals affiliated with al-Qaeda
with branches throughout Southeast Asia. It reportedly seeks to
establish a Muslim super-state that would stretch across parts of
Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and other nations.
Three dozens of the militants who organized the Bali attacks
have been arrested and 30 have been convicted so far. These
include Riduan Isamuddin alias Hambali - JI's alleged operations
chief - who was captured in Thailand in August and turned over to
U.S. authorities.
The ICG report said that within the organization's Indonesian
chapter, most members no longer favor high-profile attacks
against Western targets, preferring instead to focus on a long-
term strategy of setting up an Islamic state by 2025 through
religious indoctrination and building up a base throughout the
country.
"Jamaah Islamiyah's majority faction, however, will continue
to constitute a longer-term threat to Indonesia," the document
warned.
"This is (because) the religious indoctrination and
recruitment efforts they are engaged in are likely to produce at
least some cadres more hotheaded than their teachers, who look
beyond Indonesia to a more international agenda," it said.
It said radicals impatient with the majority's long-term
strategy have set up militia gangs in the district of Poso, in
central Sulawesi, which have already carried out small-scale
attacks against the Christian minority there in an apparent
attempt to re-ignite a religious war.
The region was the scene of a bloody inter-communal conflict
in which at least 1,000 people died. A government-brokered deal
ended the bloodshed two years ago.
"It remains important to keep the threat of terrorism in
perspective - Indonesia is not about to be overrun by jihadists,"
said Sidney Jones, who heads the International Crisis Group's
office in Jakarta.
"They remain the radical fringe of a radical fringe. Their
capacity to do damage, however, continues to be cause for serious
concern," she said.