DATE=4/12/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA / MUSLIM PROTESTS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261208
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Indonesian authorities say they will crack
down on Muslim extremists planning to launch an
offensive against Christians in eastern Maluku
province -- where clashes between Muslims and
Christians have claimed thousands of lives. As
Patricia Nunan reports from Jakarta, police say
first they will close a training camp located
outside the capital.
TEXT:
/// ACT - CHANTING ///
About two thousand protestors chant "Allahu
Akhbar" or "God is great" outside Indonesia's
parliament building. Dressed in white Muslim
robes and carrying swords and daggers, members of
"Laksar Jihad" or the "Holy War Force" put on a
show of force earlier this week on the parliament
grounds. Platoons of fighters performed
military-like drills, running in rough formation
and diving and rolling with swords.
The group says it will go to Maluku province at
the end of the month to fight against Christians.
But National Police Chief Lt. Gen. Rusdihardjo
said Wednesday that authorities will prevent the
group from going to Maluku -- using the Navy to
divert any ships carrying Muslim extremists to
the province. The police also say they will shut
down a training camp outside the capital Jakarta
and confiscate arms from the group's four
thousand members.
Outside parliament Monday, "Laksar Jihad" leader
Ayip Syahfrudin anticipated the government's
disapproval of the group's plans.
/// ACT Syahfruddin (in Indonesian)
///
He says, "if the police try to fight against us
while we are on a Holy War, we are not just going
to stand there and take it."
/// END ACT ///
Maluku province has been the site of a year-long
series of clashes between the province's Muslim
and Christian populations. Human rights officials
say at least two thousand people have died in the
fighting in the past six months.
Leaders of "Laksar Jihad" are also calling for
the resignation of President Abdurrahman Wahid.
The President, a moderate Muslim leader, has
condemned the demand for a holy war in Maluku
province.
President Wahid came to office last October, in
part, on promises to end separatism in a handful
of Indonesian provinces including Maluku. He
appointed vice president Megawati Sukarnoputri to
tackle the issue of religious violence in the
province.
Fighting in Maluku has abated in recent weeks,
but few believe that a long-term solution to the
sectarian clashes has been reached.(SIGNED)
NEB/PN/FC
12-Apr-2000 07:05 AM EDT (12-Apr-2000 1105 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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