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Muslim Brotherhood
or Political Brotherhood?
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Laksamana.Net
May 8,
2002 06:05 PM |
Vice President
Hamzah Haz has come under fire for his meeting with arrested
Laskar Jihad chief Jafar Umar Thalib, who is accused of inciting a
recent massacre of Christian villagers in Ambon, Maluku province.
Some observers said the visit on Tuesday (7/5/02) was an effort to
pressure police to release Jafar Umar and was clearly at odds with
President Megawati Sukarnoputri’s pledge to crack down on
communal violence and terrorism.
“Hamzah Haz sent the wrong signals to people who are worried
about stability in Indonesia and the rest of the region. That
visit was a major slap in the face to Megawati’s policies. She
should sack him,” said a US businessman based in Jakarta.
But Haz, who chairs of the Muslim-based United Development Party
(PPP), on Wednesday denied that he had made any political deals
with Jafar Umar during their 90-minute meeting at Islamic militia
leader’s cell at Jakarta Police headquarters.
“I went there as a Muslim. Part of Islamic unity is Islamic
brotherhood ... my visit was within that framework," he was
quoted as saying by Agence France Presse.
“There were no political affairs discussed ... there were no
political deals," he said.
Muslim leader Eggy Sujana, who accompanied the vice president
during the meeting, said Haz had asked Jafar Umar to see that
Laskar Jihad surrenders its weapons and withdraws from Ambon.
Sujana, who himself has been accused in the past of fueling
religious unrest, said Jafar Umar agreed to remove Laskar Jihad
from Ambon if the government guarantees to take firm action
against supporters of the South Maluku Republic (RMS) separatist
movement.
Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Amien Rais
on Wednesday singled out Haz’s visit to Jafar Umar as an example
of the lack of cohesion among Indonesia’s political elite.
In answer to a question put to him at a lunch organized by foreign
business chambers, he said the visit was a clear sign of open
dissent in the leadership.
Suggesting that the visit could have been meant to give Jafar Umar
a “moral boost,” Rais nevertheless said “it is setting a
different appearance than that set by the President”. [see Too
Many Elite Battles: Rais]
Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) Akbar Tanjung,
speaking at a separate occasion, expressed concern that Haz’s
visit could influence police.
“I hope the police investigation won’t be affected by the vice
president’s visit," he said.
Jafar Umar was arrested on May 4 and is being investigated for
allegedly inciting the April 28 attack in Ambon that left at least
13 people dead. He has also been charged with insulting Megawati.
Prominent political observer Arbi Sanit, who lectures in politics
at the prestigious University of Indonesia, criticized Haz, saying
the meeting gave the impression that the vice president had taken
sides with the Laskar Jihad leader.
"The vice president claimed that his visit was aimed at
giving him an opportunity to help Jafar understand about a
solution to the Ambon conflict. But the approach was laden with
nuances of intervention," Sanit was quoted as saying by state
news agency Antara.
Haz asserted that he had gone to Jafar Umar’s cell in his
capacity as a Muslim individual to visit a brother in distress.
"It has nothing to do with my being vice president," he
said.
But Sanit said the visit gave the impression of high-level support
for Jafar Umar.
The meeting might prompt Megawati to reprimand Haz, but given the
president’s taciturn nature it’s unlikely she will confront
him head on.
Haz, who has three wives, in 1999 objected strongly to
Megawati’s bid for the presidency on the grounds that a woman
president would be unacceptable to Islam.
The presence of radical Islamic groups such as Laskar Jihad may be
of benefit to certain rogue generals wishing to create chaos in
the archipelago to further their own interests, but analysts say
there’s virtually no chance the military would want to see the
nationalist, secular Megawati replaced by Haz, who is seen as
lacking political acumen and being something of a loose cannon.
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