Word: laskar
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...military is 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...
...That isn't the only reason Washington is worried about Laskar Jihad and its commandos. Once, a few dozen deaths in inter-religious violence on Sulawesi might have rated little more than a few minutes on CNN. But in the post-Sept. 11 world, battlefield victories by Laskar Jihad will have a profound impact on external debt negotiations, international investment and other issues critical to Indonesia's stability. Although there is little evidence that militant Islamic groups in Indonesia have links with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda, the growing strength of Laskar has already set alarm bells ringing...
...When the first Laskar commandos arrived in Sulawesi in July, they were formally received by the Governor of Central Sulawesi province and the head of the local parliament. Such a welcome underscores what the group's opponents and many independent analysts say is the greatest challenge to controlling the militants: their support at the highest levels of Indonesia's government. From direct infusions of cash to fund the fighters to phone calls to local military commanders to prevent crackdowns, sympathizers have ensured that the Laskar Jihad can operate with impunity. The current total of its fighters on Sulawesi?as high...
...Like almost everyone else, Pelima is too scared to blame the Laskar Jihad directly. But he is unequivocal in dating the most recent round of troubles to the arrival of the outsiders. "In the past four months many Christian villages have been cleaned out and many killed. Now you can see people walking around carrying guns openly in those villages," he says despairingly. "How can that be? We are farmers here and know nothing about automatic weapons. Where did these men get the guns from and the training to use them...
...Laskar jihad was founded in 2000 by an unassuming Islamic teacher named Ja'far Umar Thalib. A 40-year-old from the east Java heartland of Indonesian Islam, Ja'far's mild demeanor disguises a fierce devotion to what he sees as the plight of Muslims in Indonesia. Like many of Southeast Asia's radical Muslims, he spent several years in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the mid-1980s, both studying and fighting against the Soviet invasion. (Ja'far says he met Osama bin Laden then, but was unimpressed: "He couldn't even read the Koran without stumbling...