DATE=4/6/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA - MUSLIM RALLY (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-260998
BYLINE=BRONWYN CURRAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: More than five-thousand people have staged a
Muslim prayer rally in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.
They met to launch a jihad or holy war against the
killing of Muslims in Maluku province, in the
country's northeast. As Bronwyn Curran reports from
Jakarta, rally leaders say they are prepared to deploy
10-thousand fighters and will start a holy war on the
island of Java if the government tries to stop them.
TEXT:
//ACT: CHANTS-ALLAH AKBAR//
Cries of Allah Akbar -- or God is Great -- echoed
across Jakarta's main stadium. Some two thousand Jihad
recruits jogged into the center, wearing white robes,
black army boots, and checked headscarves. Some were
in army helmets -- all of them carried swords.
Ranging in age from their teens to their seventies,
the recruits hollered
Allah Akbar in reply, thrusting their swords above
their heads.
The recruits were receiving their final send-off
before embarking on a two-week military style training
course in preparation for a planned jihad at the end
of this month. Training starts Thursday in the Bogor
hills, southeast of Jakarta.
Rally leaders say the two-thousand trainees will make
up part of a 10-thousand-strong jihad force which will
leave Jakarta for Maluku on the 20th of April.
Eep Syahfrudin from the umbrella Muslim group
Ahlussunah Wal Jama ah says the jihad is their
response to the government's failure to halt
slaughters of Muslims by Christians in the sectarian
conflict that has raged since January last year.
// SYAHFRUDIN ACT IN INDONESIAN: EST. FADE DOWN//
He says the rally is a message to the public that they
are now ready and will depart for Maluku.
The commander of Jihad fighters, Jaffar Umar has
threatened to burn Christian churches, destroy
Christian facilities and kill priests and lay
Christian leaders in several provinces of Indonesia if
security forces try to prevent his jihad fighters from
reaching Maluku.
His spokesman Eep Syahfrudin repeated that message at
Thursday's prayer rally.
///SYAHFRUDIN ACT IN INDONESIAN: EST FADE DOWN///
He asked for the chance for the fighters to bring the
conflict to an end.
President Abdurrahman Wahid has strongly opposed calls
for a jihad and threatened to use the armed forces to
prevent any such action.
But in recent weeks Jihad groups have been collecting
money and distributing petitions at intersections in
Jakarta unhindered.
Jaffar Umar, says more than 150-thousand dollars has
been raised from supporters in the United States,
Britain, Australia, and the Middle East. Some of that
money also comes from inside Indonesia, donated by
former generals disgruntled with President Wahid.
Sectarian violence between Christians and Muslims has
killed thousands of people over the last 14 months.
The situation has been brought under control in recent
weeks but there still are incidents of fighting.
Mr. Syahfrudin accused foreign media reports about the
conflict as being inaccurate. He says reports blame
the Muslims for the slaughter of Christians.
//SYAHFRUDIN ACT IN INDONESIAN: EST. FADE DOWN//
That is not true, he says. It is Muslims who are being
slaughtered by the thousands in Maluku.
Despite President Wahid's condemnation of radical
Muslim activities, the prayer rally still went ahead
with the authorization of the city's police.(signed)
NEB/BC/GC/PLM
06-Apr-2000 06:42 AM EDT (06-Apr-2000 1042 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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