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Who are the
Laskar Jihad?
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BBC
World News
Sunday, 28
April, 2002, 09:10 GMT 10:10 UK |
The latest attacks on Christians in
Indonesia's eastern Moluccan Islands are the most serious since a
peace deal was signed in February to try to end three years of
sectarian conflict.
That agreement was rejected by the
leader of the extremist Islamic group Laskar Jihad, who addressed
a crowd of thousands in strife-torn Ambon.
Jafar Umar Thalib called on all
Muslims in the Moluccan Islands to launch a renewed war against
the Christian community, saying the peace agreement should be
ignored.
The agreement, mediated by central
government officials, called on "outsiders that bring
chaos" to leave the region. Both sides agreed to end
violence, ban all armed militias and set up joint patrols.
Moluccas violence
Laskar Jihad is a paramilitary
organisation which claims 15,000 members. It has sent hundreds of
warriors from Java to eastern Indonesia, where they have been
involved in attacks on Christians.
The fighting in the eastern
Moluccas has left more than 6,000 people dead and forced 750,000
to flee their homes since January 1999.
Jafar Umar Thalib is believed to have close ties to the former
regime of ex-dictator Suharto.
Some US officials have also voiced concerns that Osama Bin
Laden's al-Qaeda network could be helping Laskar Jihad.
Mr Thalib, a 40-year-old Afghan war veteran, denies having
links with al-Qaeda, although he met Bin Laden in Pakistan in
1987.
Anti-Christian message
A recent CIA assessment said Indonesia - an archipelago of more
than 17,000 islands - could become an attractive hideout for Al-Qaeda.
But analysts point out that
Laskar Jihad has a domestic agenda that only targets Christians in
conflict areas.
The group accuses Christians in the Moluccas of pushing for
their own homeland - just as mainly Catholic East Timor seceded
from Indonesia in 1999.
Laskar Jihad has established a stronghold in Kebon Cengkih, a
village in the hills above Ambon, the Christian Science Monitor
reports.
A recent report by the Brussels-based International Crisis
Group think-tank says Laskar Jihad's "self-justification for
its presence in Ambon depends on continuation of the
conflict".
Papua tensions
Laskar Jihad is also reported to have stepped up its activities
in Papua province, formerly known as Irian Jaya.
Papua is home to one million
Christians and animists, with a small Muslim minority.
Indonesian Christian leaders have repeatedly accused the
security forces of turning a blind eye to Laskar Jihad. Some
people believe the military may even be arming them as well.
Army commanders have previously used proxy militias to wage war
- most notoriously in East Timor.
Mr Thalib insists that his group's mission is to forge a
spiritual form of jihad through preaching, not fighting.
But he has also warned more ominously that the volunteers are
prepared for "attacks by enemies".
He says Laskar Jihad will not abandon its
"humanitarian" mission - it runs a clinic and school in
Kebon Cengkih.
The group aims to introduce Muslim Sharia law in Indonesia,
where Muslims form about 85% of the population of 210 million.
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