South China Morning Post, Wednesday, January 23, 2002
Islamic warriors 'sent to fight in Papua'
VAUDINE ENGLAND in Jakarta
The militant Muslim group Laskar Jihad has sent at least 100 of its Islamic warriors to
Papua to join a Jakarta-backed militia to fight against Papuan independence, a human
rights group claims.
The Church-backed rights group Elsham says Laskar Jihad has been called in to the
city of Fak Fak to help train the East Merah Putih militia, an anti-independence gang.
The group, based outside the capital, Jayapura, had earlier alleged that
anti-independence militias were being fostered in far-flung parts of the province by
parts of the armed forces in order to stoke conflict and punish anyone advocating
independence.
A source said the claims were believable. "We are only just across from the
[Indonesian province of] Maluku where Laskar Jihad have been busy killing Christians
with military help," a long-time foreign resident of Papua (formerly Irian Jaya) pointed
out.
Most Papuans are Christian, which may give Laskar Jihad a pretext for participating in
the conflict over Papuan desires for independence.
Elsham says one of its activists who lives in Fak Fak has received death threats after
telling police about a Laskar Jihad training camp, which police later raided.
Laskar Jihad denies any presence in Papua. The Islamic group has sent hundreds of
its young men to Maluku in the past two years, claiming to assist their Muslim
brethren with health and education.
Witness reports and film footage show they readily engaged in fighting Christians
there, sometimes with military assistance. The Maluku war has left about 8,000
people dead. Laskar Jihad has also been active in the sectarian conflict in Central
Sulawesi, where hundreds have died and many more have been displaced.
In both cases, security sources say the fighting had appeared to be dying down when
Laskar Jihad appeared to restart it.
Laskar Jihad denies any links to regional or other militant groups such as al-Qaeda
and maintains it is only defending the faith. Christian groups believe their intent is to
de-Christianise Indonesia.
The armed forces have been accused of paying and assisting Laskar Jihad for their
own ends, but they deny backing any unlawful activities.
Highlighting Jakarta's refusal to countenance talk of independence in Papua are the
sentences requested for three leading advocates of dialogue on the subject.
Prosecutors want the secretary-general of the separatist Papuan Presidium Council
and two other presidium members to serve time in prison for betraying the country. A
similar case against presidium leader Theys Hiyo Eluay was dropped after he was
murdered.
Copyright © 2001. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
|
