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THE STRAITS TIMES, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2001
Laskar Jihad says it will keep away from anti-US rallies
But the group's commander calls on people to wage holy war
JAKARTA - A Muslim group waging a 'holy war' against Christians in Maluku said yesterday it would not join rallies against the US military attacks on Afghanistan.
'We have never staged anti-US demonstrations and we will not do so. We are not good at organising demonstrations,' Laskar Jihad spokesman Wirawan Adnan told a press conference.
He said the group also opposed 'sweeps' or searches for American citizens.
'We have no plan to conduct sweeps. To say that we are planning sweeps is slander,' he said.
Laskar Jihad publicly trained and paraded its fighters in Jakarta before sending them to the Maluku islands in May 2000.
An estimated 4,000 people have died in three years of sporadic fighting between Muslims and Christians in the islands.
Observers blame Laskar Jihad for much of the violence.
Meanwhile, Laskar Jihad commander Jaffar Umar Thalib contradicted his spokeman's views and said his group supported calls for jihad or holy war against the US.
'The attacks on Afghanistan are a war against Muslims,' Jaffar said. 'We call on Muslims to wage jihad against the US... to the best of their own ability.'
Jaffar also condemned the actions of police who used tear gas and water cannon to break up a peaceful protest by at least 200 people from four radical Islamic groups at the Parliament on Monday.
About 100 protesters staged a noisy rally outside the US embassy yesterday.
'Laskar Jihad strongly condemns Sofyan Jacoeb who used violence against people who were voicing their aspirations peacefully,' he said about the Jakarta police chief.
'The police actions were aimed at demonstrating to the US that they are serving American interests.'
Jaffar also criticised Osama bin Laden, whom the US has accused of masterminding the September terror attacks, as a man 'devoid of Islamic knowledge'. --AFP
Copyright © 2001 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
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