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Working at the site of the Bali bombing |
Indonesia, one of the last frontiers of Islam that has not bowed to the US in the so called “war against terror” is now compelled to join the US in its anti-terror coalition, a direct and logical conclusion in the aftermath of the Bali bombing that has killed more than 200 people and injured another hundred more.
The country’s authorities have lately decided to investigate terror links and have enrolled their military force in the battle to fight terrorism. However, observers and politicians alike believe the US and the Western world will not get the expected results out of this engagement by Jakarta to free itself from being called a “terror hotbed.”
On the contrary, local observers fear this move by the authorities may bring the country’s government’s downfall and cause another collapse in the already fragile democracy that has replaced dictatorship in the country. The Bali blast is a sure test of endurance of the Megawati Sukarnoputri regime, already unpopular according to recent polls.
The archipelago of 15,000 Islands has until this day denied the presence of terror links in the country, despite numerous allegations made by the US and its allies in the region, Singapore and the Philippines. The international press and the national newspapers in the US have also pointed their fingers at Indonesia, embarrassing the Indonesian government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri in the process. After Bali, the regional and international presses have laid the finger on Megawati and her government for “ignoring the calls by the US and its allies that terror cells existed in Indonesia.”
Time magazine is currently facing a challenge by one of the most respected leaders of Islamic fundamentalism in Indonesia, Ustaaz Abu Bakar Bashir, the aging Muslim scholar who runs an Islamic school in Solo, Central Java. Bashir has also been tagged the leader of the Jamaat Islamia (JI) in Singapore and of the “vague” Malaysia Militant Movement (KMM) in Malaysia. He is featured as the top “terror” leader on the Malaysian police website. The respected Magazine accused Bashir of terror links and of leading the banned JI, an obscure group that has made the headlines in Singapore with the arrest of 32 of its alleged members in the tiny Island nation.
CIA “Plot”?
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| Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir |
Muslim organizations and political parties have protested to the US government, following the publication of an allegedly leaked Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) document published by Time Magazine. These are the same documents that “supposedly” indict Bashir as the main al-Qaeda operative in South East Asia. The document discloses the involvement of the JI and other radical Muslim organizations with the al-Qaeda. The report by Time stated that Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir was a major suspect and this was partly “confirmed” by U.S. assistant undersecretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific, Matthew Daley.
Bashir dismissed the existence of the JI as a pure fabrication by the Singaporean authorities, adding that he does not have any links with international terror organizations. He added that he does not have links with the al-Qaeda of Osama bin Laden. He, however, supports Osama bin Laden, adding that the Saudi millionaire is a true Muslim who is leading a war against the occupation of Muslim land by the US in Saudi Arabia.
The Bali blast has been blamed on the CIA by many respected Indonesian observers who said the US had been the only country busy suggesting there were terror suspects in Indonesia and the only country that had anything to gain with the blast in Bali. They argue that no civilians could have had access to such a huge amount of ingredients to fabricate the bomb that blasted the car and its surroundings where the vehicle was parked.
This gives the investigators from Australia and Indonesia a sure lead on who is responsible for the tragic incident in the most popular tourist resort in Indonesia. Observers told IslamOnline that the lead is on the CIA or a military link in the country that could have carried out the bombing. Other observers, however, urged the local authorities to “at least look into local Islamic elements” that could have carried out the carnage, but without sufficient proof, Indonesia will not act.
Nevertheless, in Indonesia, the majority of Muslims have doubts about the very existence of the JI, the (Malaysian Militant Movement) KMM and the al-Qaeda. A large section of the population still supports Osama bin Laden, much to the ire of the US and its representatives in Jakarta. Indonesia remains a staunch Muslim nation with a large segment of the population ready to show support to everything that is Islamic.
The recent allegation that attempts were made to assassinate Megawati Sukarnoputri has been dubbed a “sheer US propaganda and a bid to drag Indonesia deep in the war against terror,” by editors of local newspapers and online magazines in Indonesia: “The US is clearly out of ideas on how to bring the Indonesian government to support the US in its bid to destroy terror cells around the world,” commented an observer who is close to Bashir.
A wider spectrum of the population in Indonesia (212 million) is anti-US and there are numerous examples to show that the government is forced to bend to the voice of the people. In Indonesia, 85 to 90 percent are Muslims: “Indonesians do not support the US’ ‘anti-Islam’ policies, but that does not mean the Indonesian public hates everything that is US. McDonald’s and US branded goods are still popular in the country,” a businessman from Solo, Central Java told IslamOnline.
US Fabrications?
The problem, according to Indonesian editors and observers, is that the US “fabricates” and “manipulates” facts that are made to support US interests. “Indonesians, from the government to the public in general, remain little convinced that Bashir is a terror suspect. They also do not believe there are International terrorists in Indonesia,” the businessman said.
In Solo, Bashir reigns supreme and his name is on the list of respected people in the region, in contrast to where he stands in the US list of most wanted men. He is popular and his courses are the most successful in Solo. His school “Pesantren Al-Mukmin” or the Al-Mukmin school is a popular place where Muslims from around the region send their children to study Islam as a faith and as a political and social force. He has more than 2000 students in his school.
He was an opponent to the Suharto regime and had to flee from Indonesia to settle in Malaysia for a long time where his charisma was again felt among students. He definitely has a strong footing in Singapore and has built his image in Indonesia since the collapse of the Suharto regime in Jakarta. The one cardinal sin of Bashir is that he is virtually anti-US and he is outspoken in his criticism towards the pro-Israeli policies of the Bush administration.
According to people close to Bashir, the elderly man of 64 years is mainly active in the propagation of Islam, a Muslim who holds the ideals and principles of Islam as high as the US holds its ‘anti-terror’ war ideals. He is a humanist and would never condone the killing of civilians. He, however, condemns the killing of Muslim civilians by terrorist policies of some Western governments.
“If the US is trying to bring the world to agree that this old man is a terrorist leader in South East Asia, then the US should change its tone and declare that it is purely fighting fundamental Islam, the bitter enemy of the Western world and its decaying system,” another Arab businessman living in Kuala Lumpur told IslamOnline.
Associating Mujahideens With Terrorism
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| Government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri may lose support if it allies with the US |
The CIA says Umar Al-Faruq, a 31 year-old Yemeni born citizen arrested in Bogor, Indonesia, in June of this year and handed over to the US military command in Afghanistan, is the ultimate proof by the US of the involvement of Bashir in terrorism. Indonesians, with their vice President in the lead, dismissed this evidence as foul play and urged the US to be more serious in its approach to the issue of terrorism. To the Indonesians, Al-Faruq is a CIA recruit sent to Indonesia to “spy” on Bashir and other local Mujahideen groups.
The difficulty for the US lies in its interpretation of terrorism and its deliberate association of terrorism with Mujahideen groups around the world. The US is facing serious problems in Indonesia, problems that can put it at odds with the largest Muslim country in the world. Its pressure on the Megawati government to tackle “terror suspects” might be risking Megawati’s leadership.
Megawati’s wrong move would be to toe to the US line and to bow to everything the US says. While the US is building a “no-confidence” vote against Indonesia on the terror issue, the Muslim populace is thinking of revolt against their government. The Nadhlatul Ulama (NU) and the Muhammadiyah will not support the Megawati government if it allies itself with the US, and without this support it is surely doomed.
Indonesia’s vice-President Hamza Haz, a popular figure in the country, has clearly expressed himself on the issue of terrorism and has warned the US not to play fiddle in Indonesia without bringing concrete and irrefutable proof of what they think is the presence of international terrorists on Indonesian soil. Haz’ stance is another signal that the US is definitely playing the wrong tunes in Indonesia.
Indonesia is neither Afghanistan nor Iraq. An attack against Indonesian Mujahideens could disintegrate the government of Megawati and cause the rise of a hard line Islamic regime that would be a deeper, sharper pain in the neck of the Bush administration in Washington.
Indonesia remains a fortress of Islamic resistance to America’s global “war on terror.” And if the US puts too much pressure on countries like Malaysia to toe to its line of conduct, then the war against the real face of terrorism would be lost in South East Asia. Malaysia’s reluctance to be given directives from Washington is a sign that the Muslim front against the biased “war on terror” is widening.
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