JAKARTA (JP): Radical Muslim leaders condemned on Thursday the
arrest of Muslim militia commander Ja'far Umar Thalib, on charges
of inciting the deadly attack on a Christian village in Ambon.
The leaders railed against the arrest during a gathering at the
Al-Azhar Mosque in South Jakarta.
After the gathering, the leaders visited Ja'far at his
detention cell in the National Police Headquarters.
The Muslim leaders who visited Ja'far included Abu Bakar
Ba'asyir, who heads the Surakarta-based Indonesian Mujahidin
Council (MMI), and Habib Rizieq, the Jakarta chief of the Islamic
Defenders Front (FPI).
"Police hardly ever trouble the true provocateurs of the
Maluku Sovereignty Front. They just go after the real Muslims who
are fighting for our helpless Muslim brothers in Maluku,"
Habib said.
Ja'far, the head of the radical group Laskar Jihad, was
arrested on Saturday in connection with an April 26 speech in
Ambon during which he allegedly called for the killing of
Christians. (ylt)
