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REUTERS, Monday October 8, 1:25 PM
Indonesian Muslim radicals threaten foreigners
By Terry Friel
JAKARTA (Reuters) - A radical Indonesian Muslim group on Monday threatened to hunt foreigners and destroy foreign targets as embassies warned their citizens to stay inside to escape retaliation over U.S.-led strikes against Afghanistan.
The small but vocal Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) demanded President Megawati Sukarnoputri cut ties with Washington and its allies and urged millions of Muslims in the world's largest Islamic nation to lay siege to the U.S. embassy in Jakarta on Monday afternoon.
"They are terrorists that must be driven from the face of the earth," the official Antara news agency quoted FPI head Muhammad Rizieq as saying. "The United States is a terrorist nation."
International schools closed and the U.S., Australian and British embassies, warning of anti-Western action, urged their nationals to stay inside.
MEGAWATI FACES DEADLINE
Key security ministers met through the night ahead of a joint meeting due later on Monday to consider Jakarta's response to the U.S. strikes and how to deal with threats at home. An announcement is due within hours, probably around 1:00 p.m. (0600 GMT). Megawati has previously expressed Jakarta's support for Washington's war on terrorism.
Forty armoured personnel carriers, backed by scores of troops, assembled in Jakarta's Merdeka (Freedom) Square, separating the U.S. embassy and the presidential palace, in a clear show of force. But the capital was otherwise peaceful.
The U.S.-led strikes and fears of local unrest have rattled financial markets, driving the rupiah briefly to a 10-week low and sending stocks down five percent in early trading.
The FPI has given the secular Megawati three days to cut relations with Washington and its allies, or it would call on Muslims to hunt foreigners, attack embassies and destroy foreign assets, Antara said.
"We (also) call for the sending of mujahideens (holy warriors) to Afghanistan. If the government cannot show a firm stance, we call on Muslims to rise in a jihad (holy war) to wipe clean the interests of the terrorist United States and its allies in Indonesia," Rizieq told Reuters.
Although the front is small, it has often spooked the expatriate community in the past, raiding and wrecking bars, restaurants and nightclubs favoured by foreigners.
After years of political and economic chaos, Indonesia remains volatile and many youths are quickly stirred.
The front's stance highlights the balance Megawati must strike between backing a key ally and appeasing radical Muslims.
Jakarta police spokesman Anton Bahrul Alam told Reuters seven battalions of police and troops were on standby.
"If there is any attack...a raid, we will grab, arrest, and bring them to court. Nobody can...(act) uncontrollably," he said.
Extra police and water cannon trucks were posted outside the U.S. ambassador's home and the heavily protected U.S. embassy, which was closed on Monday for the U.S. Columbus Day holiday.
"We will evaluate opening the embassy on... (Tuesd)," the embassy said in its notice to Americans.
Security was also stepped up at the U.S. consulate in Indonesia's second largest city, Surabaya.
"It is likely there will be demonstrations and other forms of protest against Western citizens and interests in Indonesia," the Australian embassy said in a special bulletin to its citizens.
There are tens of thousands of Americans, Australians, Britons and citizens from other U.S. allies in Indonesia.
Indonesia has been racked by growing anti-U.S. sentiment after Washington focused the first phase of its war on Islamic Afghanistan, where Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 suicide hijack attacks on the United States, is sheltering.
Some 90 percent of Indonesia's 210 million people are Muslim.
Although Indonesian Islam is generally moderate, some hardline groups have hunted Americans to expel them and warned other foreigners to leave. Hundreds of men have signed up to help defend Afghanistan in a holy war.
JIHAD CALLS
Thousands more have joined frequent anti-U.S. protests in the streets of Jakarta and other major cities.
Another Muslim group, the Muslim Students Action Front, condemned the strikes against Afghanistan and urged the government to allow Muslims to join a jihad.
"It is blatantly clear that the United States is violating human rights by putting all the blame on Muslims. This is clear-cut arrogance...," spokesman Khairil Adha told Reuters, stopping short of saying the group called for a jihad.
"We demand the government of Indonesia lift the restrictions on travel to Afghanistan for a jihad. So many of our members want to go there."
The United States has been at pains to explain its war is not against Islam, but against terrorism and those who harbour them.
Indonesian authorities -- who are closely monitoring FPI and other groups -- have warned they will not tolerate retaliation against foreigners, but the ability of the poorly trained police to guarantee the safety of expatriates is uncertain.
Scared foreigners have been leaving over the past few weeks after Washington evacuated non-essential staff and dependants.
Tens of thousands of foreigners were evacuated from Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation, amid the political chaos surrounding the 1998 fall from power of autocratic President Suharto.
Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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