|
|
Officials say al-Qaida
operatives visited war-torn Aceh province
|
The
Associated Press
Thu
Jul 11,12:11 AM ET |
Officials say al-Qaida
operatives visited war-torn Aceh province
Thu Jul 11,12:11 AM ET
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Despite a
visit last year by a senior al-Qaida operative to Indonesia's
troubled Aceh province, the group never established a presence
there, the region's military commander said according to media
reports Thursday.
An aide to al-Qaida leader Osama bin
Laden ( news
- web
sites) arrived in Aceh in 2001, "but the visit was not
followed by the terrorist network's presence in the
province," Maj. Gen. Djali Jusuf was quoted as saying by The
Jakarta Post daily.
The general could not be reached
for comment on Thursday.
Indonesian officials insist that
al-Qaida has not established a foothold in the world's largest
Muslim nation. But neighboring Singapore has alleged that
Indonesia serves as a base for Jemaah Islamiya, a group accused of
plotting to attack Western interests in Southeast Asia.
Unconfirmed reports about an al-Qaida
visit to Aceh, a province of four million people on the northern
tip of Sumatra island, first surfaced in the middle of last year.
At the time, representatives of the
separatist Free Aceh Movement claimed that two envoys from the
Middle East had spent several days there but had departed after
unsuccessful efforts to establish ties with local Muslims.
The rebels said they did not want
to have anything to do with al-Qaida because they are fighting for
an independent state and Islam was not a factor in the struggle.
Thousands of people have died in
the 26-year war between government troops and the insurgents in
the province. But unlike other parts of Indonesia, Christians and
other religious minorities have not been targeted in Aceh.
Fighting has escalated sharply over
the past year and the government in Jakarta is now considering
imposing martial law in the province.
In February, rebels blocked an
attempt by an Indonesian extremist Islamic militia to establish a
base in Aceh. The guerrillas said Laskar Jihad, which is blamed
for the killing of thousands of Christians in Indonesia's Maluku
archipelago, was being sponsored by the military.
|
