ISIS AT OUR BORDERS Warning for new force behind Islamic State in Indonesia Dire warnings .... Ansyaad Mbai says Indonesian terror laws are “the weakest in the world” and that prisons are too soft on terrorists. Picture: Ardiles Rante Source: Supplied ANSYAAD Mbai retired a fortnight ago after 12 years leading Indonesia’s ferocious anti-terror campaign, but he says his country’s terror laws are now the “weakest in the world” and its prisons too soft on men such as jihadist Abu Bakar Bashir. Mr Mbai has thrown 950 terrorists in jail since he became Indonesia’s head terrorist hunter after the first Bali bombing of 2002. Another 90 have been shot dead by his feared Densus 88 police anti-terror squad, and he apologises for none of it. However Mr Mbai, 66, warned in an exclusive interview that the Islamic State was the new force in Indonesia and said reports that Bashir’s deadly Jemaah Islamiah had broken up were false. Power returning ... Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir gestures during his trial at a court in Jakarta where he faced terrorism charges. Picture: Supplied Source: AFP “All ideological figures in Indonesia see the Islamic State as the new ship,” says Mbai. “It has the same ideology, the same aims as ISIS. And ISIS has military power and is better equipped than when al-Qaeda backed Jemaah Islamiah.” Bashir formed Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid, or JAT, after Jemaah Islamiah was outlawed. In July, from his prison in Nusakambangan in southern Java, he pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, or ISIS. Some of his followers — including his two sons — publicly deserted him and formed JAS, Jamaah Ansharusy Syariah, which rejects al-Baghdadi’s authority but operates in public, raising funds, attracting membership and has long-term plans to turn Indonesia into a Sharia state. Mr Mbai said the split between JI factions was a ruse. “What matters the name? At the ideological level their objectives are the same,” said Mr Mbai. “Their leader is the same man. Abu Bakar Bashir. They’ve renamed JI and camouflaged it. JAS is just a new name. It’s never changed.” Trouble in paradise ... the aftermath of the Jakarta Marriott Hotelbombing in 2003. Source: AP Mr Mbai said terrorists were now scattered in 28 prisons across Indonesia but he had been unable to convince authorities to make them wear prison uniforms or to put them in one high-security centre where they could not influence other inmates or prisons guards. “This is not good,” he said. “It means terrorists never think of themselves as prisoners. It’s business as usual.” After running the national terror desk for eight years, just-retired President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asked Mr Mbai in 2010 to pull all counter-terror agencies together under the National Counterterrorism Agency, or BNPT. 2010 directive ... Former lndonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Picture: Glenn Campbell Source: News Limited Mr Mbai said he had tried many times to appeal to the Indonesia parliament to pass laws to make it illegal for clerics to utter the word “kaffir”, or infidels, or to make incendiary statements. But the influence of hardliners in the Indonesian parliament made it impossible to achieve. “All terrorist attacks come from the initial order to attack kaffirs,” said Mr Mbai. “They say it is the obligation of all Muslims, and this is the basis of terrorism. Calling someone a ‘kaffir’ must be criminalised. “Indonesian laws against terrorists are the weakest in the world. Indonesia does nothing to stop people from joining ISIS. Our laws say police can only act after attacks.” Bashir’s student ... Noordin Top in a video found after a counter-terrorism raid on his hideout in Semarang in 2005. Source: News Limited Shot dead by Densus 88 in 2009 ... Noordin Mohammed Top. Picture: AFP PHOTO Source: AFP Mr Mbai’s biggest scalp was Noordin M Top, a former student of Bashir’s who was behind the Bali bombings of 2002 and 2005, the JW Marriott bombing of 2003, the Australian Embassy in Jakarta bombing of 2004, and the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott suicide bombings of 2009. Top was shot dead by Densus 88 in 2009, and many other wanted men and suspects have gone the same way. Mr Mbai said he had been dragged before parliament and grilled about Densus 88, which he formed in 2003. Its deadly shoot-first approach to terrorists has won Mbai acclaim and censure. “They say, ‘Why did you shoot them?’ I say, ‘Because if we didn’t shoot them my men would be killed,’” said Mr Mbai. “The United States shot both Boston bombers. So they have a 100 per cent shoot rate. We have arrested 950 and only shot 90. That’s less than 10 per cent. “So, we are the champion of human rights,” he said with a smile. “They want to die. We have helped them.” All eyes on the new man in the top job ... Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Picture: AFP PHOTO / ADEK BERRY Source: AFP Mr Mbai said he believed Australia was right to maintain travel warnings about the high threat of terror in Indonesia, including Bali, but also said Bali was currently one of the safest places in Indonesia because the Balinese were highly alert to the threats. “But this doesn’t mean there is no threat,” he said. Mr Mbai also revealed that despite the freeze in cooperation after Australia was revealed to have spied on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s phone, his agency had never stopped sharing intelligence with Australia. “Sharing military intelligence stopped,” he said. “Sharing intelligence on terror never changed.” Mr Mbai said the highly respected vice-president, Jusuf Kalla, serving under newly elected Joko Widowdo, was Indonesia’s best hope of challenging the Islamic State. He said Mr Kalla was a committed moderate Muslim who did not fear hardliners. “He is very concerned about radicalisation and has the courage to oppose it,” said Mr Mbai. mobile.news.au/world/asia/warning-for-new-force-behind-islamic-state-in-indonesia/story-fnh81fz8-1227116833840
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 20:47:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015