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Jihad
warriors back in business
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WorldNetDaily
March
7, 2003
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Jihad warriors back in business
FAITH UNDER FIRE: Jihad warriors
back in business
Christians fear regrouping of Islamists who slaughtered thousands
An Islamic militant group that has slaughtered thousands of
Christians in
Indonesia continues to operate despite formally announcing it had
disbanded.
Laskar Jihad, which wants to make Indonesia an Islamic state, has
established at least 12 military training camps with more than
2,000 fighters in the eastern province of Papua, the former Irian
Jaya, according to recent reports from human rights groups, the
Assist News Service said.
Photo: Laskar Jihad warriors
The militant group waged a violent campaign against Christians in
Indonesia's Maluku province, where at least 10,000 people were
killed, and in Sulawesi. Indonesia has the largest Muslim
population in the world, with more than 180 million.
The Indonesia military is helping arm and fund Laskar Jihad, which
began to arrive in Papua two years ago, according to a report by
the Barnabas Fund, a British charity that serves persecuted
Christians.
The Barnabas Fund says the group began forming links with local
authorities, police and army units, and with the pro-Jakarta
militia Satgas Merah Putih, which opposes Papuan calls for
independence from Indonesia.
Pakistani and Afghan mujahideen, or holy war fighters, have been
sighted on the island, according to reports by local Christians,
who say they discovered stockpiles of weapons.
The radical Islamic group's magazine, which contains virulent
attacks on Christians, Jews and the U.S., is sold openly in
markets in Papua, the report said.
T-shirts, DVDs and books on Osama bin Laden also are on sale.
A leading Papuan human rights campaigner confirmed that Laskar
Jihad is operating in the province, according to Radio Australia
News. John Rumbiak, of the non-governmental group Elsham, says the
Indonesian military is collaborating closely with the holy
warriors, especially along the border with Papua New Guinea.
"Military personnel ... are involved in training them,"
he said, "They have placed them in several districts in
Papua, like the transmigration sites where the majority of the
Muslims are."
Laskar Jihad apparently is trying to seek favor with the local
Muslim
population, although the majority rejects the group's presence as
a dangerous destabilizing factor in an already extremely tense
region, Barnabas Fund said.
Local Christians believe the failure of police and army units to
stop Laskar Jihad from expanding its military campaign into Papua
confirms the complicity of authorities. Last summer, four Laskar
Jihad members carrying homemade guns were seized by Christians and
handed over to police, but no action was taken.
Others who have reported Laskar Jihad activities to officials say
that they have been harassed and threatened with arrest
themselves, the Barnabas Fund reported. Some say they have
received intimidating phone calls late at night.
Photo: Laskar chief Jafar Umar Thalib
In January, the group's leader, Jafar Umar Thalib, was declared
innocent of inciting hatred and religious violence by an East
Jakarta court, a decision condemned by human rights groups.
After his arrest last May, Thalib was visited by Indonesian Vice
President Hamzah Has and soon was released on bail. A trial was
scheduled for August but was postponed when the judge stated:
"I see that you're pale. We don't want to examine someone who
is unhealthy. … I hope you can get well soon."
Senior officials in the police, military and government appear to
be supporting Laskar Jihad and protecting it from prosecution
despite overwhelming evidence of the organization's involvement in
mass murder and human rights abuses, according to Barnabas.
Holy war
Laskar Jihad's attack on Christians in Maluku province formally
ended with a peace agreement in February 2002. A pact to end the
20-month insurgency in Sulawesi was made in December 2001.
Barnabas said, however, that Laskar Jihad never complied with the
agreements and continued attacking Christian villages, homes and
churches, killing at least 10,000 – possibly as many as 30,000,
according to some estimates – and displacing half-a-million
people. Many Christians were murdered, tortured, forcibly
converted to Islam, forcibly circumcised and virtually enslaved.
The majority-Christian Papuans have sought independence since they
were annexed by Indonesia in 1963. Laskar Jihad's arrival, in
apparent cooperation with the military, is reminiscent to many of
Indonesia's use of militia to brutally repress East Timor's
struggle for independence. Papua Christians fear the militants
will be given a free hand to wage another bloody campaign, this
time in their homeland.
Meanwhile, another separatist-minded Indonesian province, Aceh,
has announced the opening of its first Islamic law court. In
January 2002, a special autonomy agreement made the province the
only part of the country in which Islamic law, or shariah, is
enforced.
Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh has assured non-Muslims that shariah
will not diminish their rights, but Christians there note that
similar promises have been broken in other places in the world
where it has been introduced, such as Nigeria.
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