Terrorists hijack Islam: Singapore

Sat, 03 Jul 2004 | Source: AFP

INDONESIA: Moderate Muslim leaders must speak out against efforts by terrorists to hijack their religion and inflame hatred, Singapore's Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar said on Friday.

He urged fellow members of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), to address the "emotional and psychological dimension of terrorism" as well as cooperating on law enforcement.

"Terrorists misuse or hijack religion for their various causes to inflame hatred and incite feelings of enmity in their community against others to justify their actions. ARF should address this fundamental issue," Jayakumar said during a session at the forum.

Singapore has detained 37 alleged Islamic militants linked to Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), a Southeast Asia-based extremist group linked to al-Qaeda. They were allegedly involved in plots to bomb various targets including the U.S. Embassy and other foreign missions. -- AFP

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