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Visit to detained
firebrand seen as act of expediency
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South China Morning Post
Friday, May 10, 2002
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VAUDINE ENGLAND in Jakarta
Definitions of Muslim brotherhood took a new twist in Jakarta this
week when Vice-President Hamzah Haz visited freshly detained
militant Jafar Umar Thalib, leader of Laskar Jihad.
Thalib was arrested on May 4 for a speech which incited violence
in
the Maluku Islands two days before the slaughter of 14 Christians,
and for insulting President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
He has publicly not only incited but organised attacks on
non-Muslim
Indonesians for at least two years and the unsuspecting mind might
see his Tuesday visit by the country's Vice-President as a
travesty,
designed to condone communal violence.
But Indonesia's political elite explains it differently, with
several sources admitting the apparently murderous behaviour of
Thalib comes second or third after domestic political expediency.
Mr Haz says he visited Thalib as "one Muslim to
another", despite
fears he was attempting to pressure the police into releasing his
friend, as they did less than a year ago - the last time Thalib
was
arrested.
"We Muslims are brothers. There is nothing wrong with
visiting
someone in trouble and offering sympathy," Mr Hamzah said.
"The
Government has no intention of intervening. The police had
concrete
evidence to arrest Jafar."
The cabinet claims it fully backed the arrest of Thalib and that
the
Government was united on the issue.
Mr Haz is positioning himself for the next elections in 2004 at a
time when his own Islam-based United Development Party (PPP) is
splintering and when courting the Muslim vote is paramount.
A wing of his party, PPP Reformasi, visited Thalib before Mr Haz
called.
And Indonesian analysts said politicians were actively courting
right-wing extremists in Muslim garb, much as politicians in
Europe
these days court the right-wing elements in their countries.
Another twist is that President Megawati seems intent on attending
independence celebrations in East Timor on May 20, giving
recognition to what some Indonesians still see as "the
enemy"
province which had the temerity to break away.
Mr Haz, through his visit to Thalib, is giving the message that he
is more attuned to Indonesian sentiment which refuses to be bound
to
Western demands for more action against terrorists.
Analysts say Thalib's arrest was a result of United States
pressure
on the Government to join the drive against terror - even though
there remains no proof of any direct link between Thalib's Laskar
Jihad group and the al-Qaeda network.
If arresting Thalib is seen as a response to outside pressure, Mr
Haz's visit is a neat balancing act to show true Indonesians still
care about Indonesians, even militants, first.
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