Word: indonesia
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...Indonesia's tragedy that such stories of slaughter have become numbingly commonplace since the collapse of the three-decade dictatorship of then President Suharto in 1998. The brutal military repression that kept a dizzying range of religious, cultural and ethnic hatreds in check until then has all but vanished ?with sometimes horrifyingly bloody results. But the story of Sulawesi is different, and what happens there in the coming weeks is critical, not just to the future of President Megawati Sukarnoputri and the country's 210 million people but to Indonesia's neighbors. The ramifications might be felt thousands of miles...
...With the disintegration of government authority, a handful of radical organizations have changed the face of Indonesia's traditionally varied and tolerant Sunni Islam. While most groups concentrate on fielding noisy demonstrators and grabbing headlines, a few have taken advantage of the new freedoms?and support from high-level officials?to raise well-armed private armies. By far the most successful is Laskar Jihad, which spouts the militant Wahhabi creed followed by Osama bin Laden and the Taliban and claims a force of 10,000 fighters, dedicated to defending its beliefs throughout the island nation...
...unable to prevent Laskar Jihad troops from continuing their attacks, it will constitute a chilling victory for the Islamic extremists. "They've managed to evict the military from Poso: not even Fretilin could do that in East Timor," says Tamrin Tomagola, a Muslim sociologist at the University of Indonesia. "If the situation is not brought under control, Poso could become the peak of all communal conflicts in Indonesia. The whole of Sulawesi could be engulfed and the conflict could then spread as far as the southern Philippines. This is a key fear...
...SOUTHEAST ASIA: Could violent Islamist groups in nations like Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines take up the relay of training jihad fighters? Al-Qaeda is said to have cells and camps set up in the Philippines and has made common cause with the Abu Sayyaf rebels fighting for a Muslim state on the island of Mindanao. The damp jungles may not be familiar turf for al-Qaeda fighters, but they made a safe guerrilla beachhead for the Abu Sayyaf. The Bush Administration has promised President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo $19 million to combat the rebels and will soon send a stockpile...
...INDONESIA Game Over for Tommy Detectives finally tracked down the fugitive son of former dictator Suharto, after a year on the run. Hutomo Mandala Putra, 39, nicknamed "Tommy," grinned at the crowds gathered around the police station where he was questioned on suspicion of involvement in various crimes, including murder. Jakarta?s police chief said Tommy was found at a house in Bintaro, southwest of the capital, and would face charges relating to illegal arms possession and the murder of a Supreme Court judge who had sentenced him to 18 months for corruption last year. Tommy had later skipped bail...