Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neocon who wrote (120998)	12/6/2003 1:03:54 AM
From: Dayuhan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Darul Islam spokesman, Al Chaidar, openly claims to have strong links with the Taleban in Afghanistan. "Every year since 1989, there has been co-operation in military training, and we have sent between 100 to 200 people each year to Afghanistan, to be trained to be good soldiers for Islam. This is true, though the numbers are probably exaggerated. There is regular communication and cooperation between SE Asian Islamic extremists and their counterparts in the Middle East. Indonesia makes an admirable refuge, and sensitive meetings are often held in Thailand. Money and assistance flows in a number of directions. This does not mean that the movements in SE Asia were created by those in the Middle East. This is not a case of a movement expanding from a central location, but of compatible movements evolving independently, coming into contact with each other, and cooperating to mutual advantage. This, he says, is primarily to help local Muslim fighters continue their Jihad or holy war against the Christian community in the Moluccan islands in eastern Indonesia. It should perhaps be noted here that the sectarian violence in Maluku and Sulawesi is a product of local immigration patterns, most notably the increased migration of Muslims from Bugin, Buton, and Makassar into the traditionally Christian-dominated Maluku Islands. The initial violence was marked by the killing of Muslims and burning of mosques by Christian militias. In December 1999 400 Muslims were massacred in the village of Tobelo, sparking a massive outcry all over the country, among allegations (not entirely inaccurate) that the government was not doing anything to protect Muslims in the area. This is the point at which Laskar Jihad and Laskar Mujahedin began recruiting Muslim militiamen to combat what they perceived, with some justification, as Christian aggression with government complicity. The militias turned the balance in the fighting toward the Muslim side, and when government forces entered the area they were perceived as taking the Christian side. This is the primary source of the current tension between Islamic leaders and the Indonesian government. A detailed ICG report, issued following an extensive investigation, found “no strong evidence suggesting a significant foreign connection to the troubles in Maluku”. American accounts, including some from those who really should know better, usually omit all reference to the attacks perpetrated by Christian militias, and try to characterize the fighting as an Al Qaeda-inspired assault on a Christian population. This perspective is not consistent with the facts.