Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06JAKARTA10039
2006-08-09 10:51:00
SECRET
Embassy Jakarta
Cable title:  

GOI ACTIVELY WORKING TO COUNTER JIHAD CALLS

Tags:  PTER PGOV PINR KDEM KISL ASEC ID IZ 
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FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8527
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHJA/ISLAMIC CONFERENCE COLLECTIVE
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 9817
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY 3207
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0984
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 0108
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 010039 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/08/2016
TAGS: PTER PGOV PINR KDEM KISL ASEC ID IZ
SUBJECT: GOI ACTIVELY WORKING TO COUNTER JIHAD CALLS

REF: JAKARTA 09862 (CRISIS MOBILIZING INDONESIA'S

MUSLIMS)

JAKARTA 00010039 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Classified by Political Officer Eric W. Kneedler, Reason
1.4 (d).

-------
SUMMARY
-------

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 010039

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/08/2016
TAGS: PTER PGOV PINR KDEM KISL ASEC ID IZ
SUBJECT: GOI ACTIVELY WORKING TO COUNTER JIHAD CALLS

REF: JAKARTA 09862 (CRISIS MOBILIZING INDONESIA'S

MUSLIMS)

JAKARTA 00010039 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Classified by Political Officer Eric W. Kneedler, Reason
1.4 (d).

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) The Indonesian government, led by President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY),has responded to public clamoring
for jihad on the part of militant groups by urging the
Indonesian public to respond realistically and rationally to
events in the Middle East. Following a cabinet discussion of
how to keep popular reaction under control, the President,
Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono, the National Police and
the speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR)
Agung Laksono, have actively discouraged potential jihadists
from traveling to the Middle East and called for restraint in
the face of growing public concern with the images coming
from Lebanon, and increasingly militant statements on the
part of some of Indonesia,s more hardline Islamic groups.
The National Police Spokesman, Brigadier General Anton
Bachrul Alam, took it one step further on August 8, declaring
to the press that the police would prevent jihadists from
departing for the Middle East, though he failed to clarify
what legal basis might allow the police to do so. The GOI,s
response has not been uniformly perfect, with the Minister of
Youth and Sports Affairs Adhyaksa Dault,s declaration of
intent to accompany jihad volunteers to Lebanon and Palestine
the most notable exception, but on balance the GOI has struck
a chord of moderation and thus far resisted the temptation to
exploit the issue for political purposes. End Summary.

-------------- --------------
SBY CALLS FOR A PRODUCTIVE RESPONSE TO MIDDLE EAST EVENTS
-------------- --------------


2. (C) Ref A reported on the outpouring of support in
Indonesia for the plight of Muslims in both Lebanon and
Palestine, as well as the one-sided nature of Indonesian
press coverage of events in the Middle East. The issue has

tremendous political traction in Indonesia, and a number of
radical Islamic groups, including the Islamic Defenders Front
(FPI) and Abu Bakar Ba'asyir's radical Majelis Mujihadin
Indonesia (MMI),have seized upon the issue and inserted
themselves into the headlines by issuing calls for jihad.


3. (C) President Yudhoyono has responded to press reports
about militant groups allegedly mobilizing for jihad in the
Middle East by taking control of the public debate on the
issue. SBY publicly expressed his understanding for the
popular anger over Israel,s actions in Lebanon, but called
on the Indonesian public to channel its emotions and anger in
a constructive direction. The President stated the GOI would
work to help craft a solution to the crisis and noted the
Indonesian military (TNI) had begun to mobilize an Indonesian
peace-keeping battalion that could be dispatched to the
Middle East as soon as a solution was implemented. According
to a report in the August 6 version of the newspaper Kompas,
SBY said &I can understand the anger, annoyance, and emotion
of the Indonesian people for the misery suffered by the
Lebanese people. I appreciate the people who have collected
donations to be channeled to Lebanon to alleviate people,s
misery there. However, beyond that, the people should be in
line with the government to seek a war settlement in
Lebanon.8


4. (C) Privately the President,s advisors have been
receptive to our demarches on the issue and expressed
confidence in the GOI,s ability to reign in potential
jihadists. It would seem clear that SBY has no intention of
allowing Indonesian radicals to gain combat experience and
training in the Middle East.

--------------
MIXED MESSAGES FROM OTHER POLITICAL LEADERS
--------------


5. (C) DPR Speaker Agung Laksono, usually eager to brandish
his Islamist credentials in order to counteract the political
liability of having a Christian wife, reinforced SBY,s
anti-jihadist message. On August 3 Speaker Laksono made a

JAKARTA 00010039 002.2 OF 002


public plea for restraint, urging Islamic organizations to
discourage members from carrying out jihad and asking them to
instead focus their energies on supplying the people of
Palestine and Lebanon with medicine and other humanitarian
assistance.


6. (S) On the opposite side of the spectrum, Cabinet Minister
and PKS member Adhyaksa Dault delivered red meat to an
audience of FPI members on August 1, declaring his readiness
to escort jihad volunteers to Lebanon and Palestine if
necessary. Our contacts tell us Coordinating Minister for
Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Widodo upbraided Dault
for his comments the same day, and Dault accompanied SBY to
Kuala Lumpur for an extraordinary meeting of the OIC on
August 3, most likely to keep him out of circulation.


7. (C) According to press reports, on August 7 Foreign
Minister Wirajuda told reporters Indonesia is &unable to
stop people from going to Lebanon8 and noted there was an
increasing number of militant groups recruiting volunteers
for service in Lebanon. Foreign Ministry spokesman Desra
Percaya made a similar statement on August 4. On the other
hand, police contacts have told us the Director of
Intelligence, immigration authorities and the Foreign Affairs
Ministry are collectively trying to identify and interdict
potential jihadist travelers, and that they apparently are
focusing on the Asian Muslim Youth Movement (AMYM),in
particular.

--------------
POLICE AND MILITARY SAYING THE RIGHT THINGS
--------------


8. (C) GOI police and military officials have taken a strong
stance against would-be jihadists and have worked from the
outset to dissuade Indonesians from traveling to the Middle
East to fight against Israel. National Police Spokesman
Anton Bachrul Alam said that such travel was banned and
warned the police would prevent potential jihadists from
leaving the country. In August 7 comments to the press,
Bachrul added the police would conduct surveillance on
military groups suspected of planning jihad missions and
share names of potential jihadists with immigration
officials.


9. (C) On August 7 Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) Commander
Djoko Suyanto added his voice to the rising chorus of GOI
officials discouraging potential jihadists, emphasizing to
the press the TNI could not guarantee the safety of civilians
planning to travel to Lebanon for the purposes of jihad. The
TNI also held meetings with police in Pontianak, West
Kalimantan, where Suaib Didu, leader of a group of 200
volunteers said to be preparing to go to the Middle East, was
recently interrogated by police. Didu was subsequently
released. Didu,s group has been referred to by several
names in the press, including AMYM and the Jihad Bomb Force
(PBJ).

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


10. (C) SBY and the security forces of the GOI appear to be
doing everything in their power to prevent Indonesia from
becoming an exporter of jihadists. The key question remains
not whether the GOI has the appetite to deter potential
jihadists, but whether it has the resources and legal basis
to do so.
PASCOE