Indonesia warns of JI's new tactic to sow seeds of radicalism

JAKARTA • Indonesia's counter-terrorism agency has warned that Jemaah Islamiah (JI) militants are continuing to sow the seeds of radicalism as the group infiltrates mainstream religious organisations, government institutions and national politics as a new tactic towards achieving its ideological goals.

Mr Ahmad Nurwakhid, deputy for prevention at the National Counter-Terrorism Agency, said JI members were able to infiltrate government institutions and mainstream Islamic groups because of their remarkable ability to blend in.

"It's possible they (have tried to infiltrate) other religious organisations, even NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and biking groups," Mr Nurwakhid told The Jakarta Post last Saturday.

"This is part of their strategy change since Para Wijayanto took over the leadership. They used to focus on combatants, but now they have shifted to 'dakwah' (religious propagation) and politics," he said.

JI was nearly dismantled by the authorities after staging a bombing attack in 2002 that ripped through nightclubs on the island of Bali, killing more than 200 people, including scores of tourists, in what remains the country's deadliest terror attack.

But the organisation - whose spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir was released from prison this year after serving time on terror-related charges - has been rebuilding and is believed to have changed its strategy.

The police last week arrested three people suspected of involvement with the group, which is affiliated to Al-Qaeda.

Among the three arrested was Mr Ahmad Zain An-Naja, a top official at the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) - the nation's powerful semi-official board of Muslim scholars. He sat on its fatwa commission.

The others arrested were Mr Ahmad Farid Okbah, chairman of the little-known Indonesian People's Calling Party, and university lecturer Anung Al-Hamat.

"Zain and Farid were members of JI's advisory council," Mr Nurwakhid said. "Farid Okbah has spent time in Afghanistan at the behest of Abu Bakar Bashir."

Mr Zain, a graduate of the Bashir-founded Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Surakarta, Central Java, served as chairman of the syariah board of the Abdurrahman Bin Auf charitable foundation which, according to the police, raised funds for JI.

The arrest of such a senior figure within the MUI - a quasi-state body that receives state funding and controls the country's halal-certification scheme - raises questions over the extent to which JI may have infiltrated mainstream Muslim groups.

Mr Nurwakhid said the move was part of JI's long-term strategy.

"This is part of the JI tactic called 'tamkin' (infiltration) and 'taqiyah' (the denial of one's belief, which is permissible in the face of persecution), so that when they are strong, they can change the organisation they entered properly," he added.

Muslim scholar Ulil Abshar Abdalla said that JI would have a huge interest in asserting its influence among mainstream Muslims through the MUI.

"The MUI is an open market for Muslims. Anyone who gets a recommendation from their organisation can join," he added.

"They could have leverage in influencing opinion among the Muslim community in Indonesia if they were able to alter the trajectory of the MUI."

MUI chairman Muhammad Cholil Nafis said: "We support law enforcement and the eradication of terrorism in Indonesia. The MUI has issued a regulation against terrorism and formed a mitigation group".

Analysts have pointed out that JI, under Para's leadership, has shown an interest in gaining political clout within society.

Security researcher Stanislaus Riyanta from the University of Indonesia said that many of an estimated 2,000 JI followers who took part in military training in Afghanistan had been active by joining social organisations.

"They are not a threat for now. But in the long term, when they have already infiltrated many elements of society and can alter the trajectory of organisations that they ride on, they will be dangerous and could threaten the government," he said.

THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK