COUNTERING THREATS FROM RADICAL CLERIC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001176 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, S/CT, DS/IP/EAP, DS/ITA/EAP NSC FOR J. BADER E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/13/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER ASEC ID SUBJECT: COUNTERING THREATS FROM RADICAL CLERIC Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Mission recently spoke to Indonesian authorities about threatening comments denouncing President Obama made by radical cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir. The comments were aired in a YouTube posting on a hard-line Indonesian-language web site. Mission underscored that such inflammatory comments are of concern, especially in light of the GOI's invitation to President Obama to visit Indonesia. GOI officials took the points on board and said they would confer. Ba'asyir is a long-time leader of violent extremist organizations who retains influence only among a tiny sliver of Indonesians. END SUMMARY. RADICAL CLERIC POSTS ABOUT POTUS ¶2. (SBU) A longtime Indonesian extremist leader is up to his old tricks. Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, a public figure who serves as leader of extremist group Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid (JAT) (see more bio info below),has used a new video to air highly inflammatory comments in denouncing President Barack Obama's recent speech in Cairo. The on-line video was posted June 14 on muslimdaily.net, a hard-line Indonesian-language web site run by Abu Bakar Ba'asyir's son, Abdul Rahim. The video aired Ba'asyir's first known public comments about President Obama. In the video, highlighted by Open Source Center analysis, Ba'asyir says President Obama and former President Bush should be "beheaded" and calls President Obama's Cairo speech a "lie." As of July 13, the posting had not generated response articles on muslimdaily.net. REVIEWING WITH THE GOI ¶3. (C) Mission has reviewed the comments with the GOI. On July 1, poloff discussed Ba'asyir's comments with Dharmawan Ronodipuro in the Counterterrorism Coordinating Desk, Coordinating Ministry for Legal, Political and Security Affairs. Ronodipuro had not been aware of the comments or the posting. Ronodipuro said he would share the information with the Chief of the Counterterrorism Coordinating Desk and the police. Poloff noted that the comments create concern, especially in light of the GOI's invitation to President Obama to visit Indonesia. Mission wanted to be sure the GOI was aware of the comments and any potential for provocation. Ronodipuro took the points on board, adding that Ba'asyir could have been trying to get out in front of his supporters on anti-U.S. issues and maintain appearances as a hard-line leader. ¶4. (C) On July 10, poloffs also discussed the matter with Abdul Gafur in the Department of Foreign Affairs Directorate of International Security and Disarmament, office of Counterterrorism. Gafur said he had not been aware of the comments and that he would forward the information to the relevant agencies. On July 13, DS/ATA program officer shared information about the matter with Saud Usman Nasution, chief of counterterrorism police unit Detachment 88. CLERIC'S INFLUENCE LIMITED ¶5. (C) Ba'asyir played a long-standing leadership role in regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and is considered the group's co-founder. Although he does not command the widespread public attention afforded to him in the past (through his comments defending the Bali bombings, for example),Ba'asyir does have a following through JAT and jihadists. For his links to the Bali bombings, he was imprisoned for a time. ¶6. (C) Ba'asyir lives near Solo, Central Java. His house is located near the Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding schools, known as Pondok Ngruki, which he founded. He no longer has a formal role in the operations or management of the schools. According to Drs. Nur Hadi, a member of the Al-Mukmin Foundation, which manages the three different academic tracks under the Al-Mukmin name, some members of the Foundation resent Ba'asyir for tarnishing the school's academic reputation with extremist ideology. Nur told poloff that the Foundation does not interfere in non-school related meetings or activities he holds in his home. ¶7. (SBU) At least one recent protest against Ba'asyir's anti-government, anti-Christian, anti-Western flavor of teachings has occurred. On June 19, Al-Ikhsan Sabilillah, a mosque in Surabaya where Ba'asyir was known to preach approximately once a month, was forcibly closed for three JAKARTA 00001176 002 OF 002 days because of local protests. According to press reports, citizens considered the mosque to be acting in ways that exclude mainstream Muslim practitioners. HUME