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