Indonesia
has arrested a high-profile Islamist leader for inciting violence
as it takes greater steps to crack down on international
terrorism.
Police detained Ja'far Umar Thalib,
leader of the Laskar Jihad group, at the weekend for inciting
violence in the Moluccas and insulting the president.
Mr Ja'far is the most prominent
Islamic leader to be arrested under the nine-month-old government
of President Megawati Sukarnoputri. His arrest follows months of
international pressure for a crackdown on domestic terrorism by
Jakarta, which is due to sign a counter-terrorism agreement with
Malaysia and the Philippines on Monday.
Saleh Saaf, police spokesman, said
Mr Ja'far had been arrested over "violence in Ambon" and
for calling on followers to "use bombs and throw them at the
enemy". Mr Saleh played a recording of Mr Ja'far saying he
wished to kill senior government officials, Mrs Megawati, and
several of her relatives.
The Muslim leader made the speech
shortly before soldiers fired warning shots to prevent a Muslim
mob entering a Christian area in the war-torn Moluccan islands.
Indonesia has faced huge pressure
from diplomats and neighbouring governments to curb the activities
of the high-profile Laskar Jihad, which in 2000 began to send
thousands of soldiers to fight against Christian groups in Ambon
and the Moluccus.
The group, which according to some
estimates has 15,000 members, has since taken its anti-Christian
campaign to Sulawesi and Papua.
Mr Ja'far, who claims he was
"trying to calm the protestors down", is a veteran of
wars in Afghanistan in the 1980s. There he met Osama bin Laden,
head of the al-Qaeda network, although he now denies any links
with the group. Ayip Syafruddin, a Laskar spokesman, says their
mission is primarily humanitarian.
Since its founding in 2000,
Laskar's activities have been relatively unchecked. The group
operates a large training camp in central Java, and enjoys contact
with senior politicians such as vice-president Hamzah Haz. Police
in the Moluccas said the group was tacitly supported by elements
of the Indonesian military.
Cracking down on the Laskar has
been politically sensitive for Mrs Megawati's secular government,
which depends on the support of a group of Islamic parties. It has
partly relied on autocratic powers to arrest Mr Ja'far. One of the
charges against him was under a legal code that harks back to
Dutch colonial times, and was last used by former President
Suharto to clamp down on opposition to his autocratic rule.
The US has said it would like
greater co-operation from Indonesia to control hardline Islamist
groups. Pentagon officials visited Jakarta late last month for
discussions with the government and military.
