http://www.atimes.
Indonesia pulls new strings to tackle terror
By Sara Schonhardt
JAKARTA - Nasir Abas' easy smile grows when asked to explain the aims of
Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the radical Southeast Asian terror group he once led
and which stands accused of plotting some of Indonesia's most deadly
terrorist attacks, including the 2002 bombing of a Bali nightclub that took
more than 200 lives.
JI has long called for the creation of an Islamic caliphate in Muslim areas
of Southeast Asia, including across Indonesia, but that objective has over
the years come at the expense of civilian lives. Nasir remains at heart a
jihadi, but he now uses words rather than weapons to challenge Islamists
about the killing of other Muslims.
Over a plate of sushi and a cup of Oolong tea, Nasir spoke with Asia Times
Online on his views about the diminished threat of Indonesian extremism, why
the creation of an Islamic state would never work in Indonesia and how
talking with terrorists is the best way to stem the spread of violence and
radicalism.
After his arrest in 2003, Nasir was the first JI leader to provide
assistance to Indonesia's special counter-terrorism task force, Detachment
88. The unit was formed by the national police in the wake of the Bali
bombing and has received technical assistance and training from US and
Australian authorities.
Tasked with rooting out JI and its terror networks, Detachment 88 has
succeeded in co-opting former radicals like Nasir, who said
then-counter-
by speaking to him as an equal, commander to commander.
"He gave me trust, so I decided I should give him trust," said Nasir, who
detailed his own time in detention to explain why programs aimed at
de-radicalizing terrorists require dialogue and religious guidance.
Nasir currently leads discussions with prisoners convicted on terrorism
charges and trains Islamic clerics on how to relate better to former and
current JI members. The foundation he assists, Ikrar Bina Umat, or Human
Development Pledge, has also approached the children of convicted terrorists
to help them understand why their family members have been imprisoned.
A recent study conducted by the University of Indonesia's psychology
department, in collaboration with Nasir, challenged inmates convicted of
terrorism in a debate over the use of violence that involved Islamic leaders
and psychologists. Prison de-radicalization programs in Yemen and Saudi
Arabia also use theological debate as a tool of reform, but critics say mere
discussion fails to change fundamentally extremists' mindsets.
"When [terrorist inmates] start to have discussions, it means they are
opening their minds to accept other ideas," said Nasir. "The dangerous
people are those who don't want to sit down and talk."
Indeed, therapeutic conversation doesn't always work; some inmates who have
participated in rehabilitation programs have later returned to their radical
networks. At a counter-terrorism conference held in Jakarta in November,
Detachment 88 chief, Usman Nasution, spoke to the need for more vigilance in
post-release monitoring of former terrorists.
He raised the case of Urwah, a JI member arrested and jailed for four years
in connection with the 2004 Australian Embassy bombing who on release took
part in last July's J W Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotel attacks.
Nasir argues that such recidivism occurs because of a lack of funding and
effort in government de-radicalization programs. He believes that most JI
members are not criminals, but rather people who have been misled. It takes
time and effort to gain the trust needed to get extremists thinking
differently, Nasir said.
That's because the JI movement has deep ideological and historical roots. JI
splintered from the Darul Islam, an Islamic group that had for decades
sought the establishment of an Islamic state in Indonesia. After forming in
1993, JI carried on DI's mission, until, in 1998, al-Qaeda go-between and JI
operations chief, Riduan Isamuddin, also known as Hambali, carried a message
from Osama bin Laden that called for revenge against the United States and
its allies.
The message didn't resonate well with Nasir and other JI leaders who
believed a tit-for-tat battle with the West was counterproductive to their
overarching goal of creating an Islamic state. Bin Laden often referred to
scriptures in the Koran to justify terror attacks against soft targets,
Nasir said.
In recent years, terrorist targets in Indonesia have varied, waged sometimes
against what radicals consider an infidel government since it does not
operate according to Islamic law, and other times against Western interests,
evidenced in the July bombings of Western-owned and frequented hotels.
Despite disagreeing with some of bin Laden's ideas, Nasir said he still
respects the al-Qaeda leader for leading a life that is pure and sacred.
"Osama is a good person, but he committed a crime," said Nasir, referring to
the terror leader's advocacy of attacks on innocent civilians.
Dialogue over destruction
The former JI commander Nasir laughs when talking about the intellectual
rather than jihadi debates he now prefers to wage. He says he frequently
makes house calls to his former JI colleagues or holds coffee conversations
that range from the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims in Malaysia to the
US-led war in Afghanistan.
"People believe Afghanistan and Pakistan have a right to be against America
because the Americans invaded them," said Nasir, who claims he is no longer
part of JI but needs to stay integrated in its culture to maintain
credibility among those he wishes to reform.
That also means not aligning himself too closely with the police: "I'm not
working with the police. I'm not cooperating, I'm assisting. The wording is
very important to me."
Nasir's job has become easier as al-Qaeda's increasingly brutal tactics,
including attacks on hotels and other public places, have isolated
Indonesia's already small segment of extremists. The idea of using dialogue
in the war against extremism has also recently gained traction in government
with the formation of an agency that will coordinate across ministries and
the departments of Education, Social Affairs and Industry.
To be sure, few terrorists imagine a life after jihad that involves selling
kebabs, raising chickens or providing herbal medicine to poor Muslim
communities. But that is the goal of some civil society groups in Indonesia
working with government to provide jobs and economic assistance for
convicted terrorists after they are released from prison.
"The idea is that terrorism is not dealt with only by combat, but also by
winning the hearts and minds of terrorists," said Rhousdy Soeriaatmadja,
coordinator for international cooperation at the Security Ministry's
Counter-Terrorism Coordinating Desk. The elevation of that desk to agency
status, whose head reports directly to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,
is part of the government's 100-day plan to supplement its use of force and
intelligence with terror prevention techniques.
If all goes to plan, the agency would diminish the current ad hoc nature of
counter-terrorism efforts and improve cooperation with civil society groups
looking to improve the lives of the poor and marginalized who are most
easily persuaded by radical propaganda, said Dharmawan Ronodipuro, spokesman
for the head of the Counter-Terrorism Desk.
According to Rhousdy, that would include post-release monitoring not only by
the police, but also by local people in areas where terror convicts are
released. His desk has led an education program that uses wayang puppet
shows to teach people the dangers of terrorism.
The initial training, which involved 103 puppet masters in Bandung and
another 107 in Central Java, provided puppeteers with information and
materials about terrorism. Five performances took place in 2009, but the
ministry has been muted about its involvement for fear that people would be
less accepting if they felt the show was government propaganda.
"De-radicalization efforts need to come from the government, but
socialization should be tied to other sources," said Rhousdy.
So far, counter-terrorism operations have focused mainly on
intelligence-
year. For instance, a raid in September killed JI mastermind and bombing
expert, Noordin Top, but it also raised criticism from human-rights groups
that accused the police of using excessive and disproportionate force in
their operations.
To dismantle JI's ideological infrastructure, including the schools and
radical publishing houses that give rise to and disseminate extremist
ideologies, police and military officers have called for stronger
anti-terrorism laws similar to those in use in neighboring Malaysia and
Singapore.
Yet draconian detention laws fuel the grievances and resentments created by
indiscriminate police sweeps in search of those involved in plotting
terrorist acts, said Noor Huda Ismail, whose Institute for International
Peacebuilding runs a pilot de-radicalization program in some of the prisons
where Indonesia's 148 terrorist inmates are held.
Security analysts and foreign governments continue to monitor Indonesia's
brand of extremism to determine how deep the roots of terrorism run in the
world's largest Muslim country. Detachment 88 chief Usman has said that
Indonesia is still at risk from attacks by new cells that formed in the wake
of Top's assassination. Even the likes of Nasir say they would return to
jihad if Indonesia were threatened by an attack from outsiders.
But the ideological drive to create an Islamic state seems to have cooled
among former extremists, according to Nasir. He notes that an Islamic state
has been achieved in Aceh - the one province in Indonesia that operates
according to strict sharia law.
But with Muslims still discriminating against other Muslims, "There is no
guarantee they could establish a good Islamic state here," said Nasir,
referring in particular to recent clashes between conservative Muslims and
an Islamic sect viewed by hardliners as heretical.
While some believe that JI has lost strength through recent arrests and
assassinations of its top members, the ideology of jihad lingers. And as
long as those ideologies persist, said Dharmawan and others, the threat of
terrorism in Indonesia is still clear and present.
Sara Schonhardt is a freelance writer based in Jakarta, Indonesia. She has
lived and worked in Southeast Asia for six years and has a master's degree
in international affairs from Columbia University.
(Copyright 2010 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved.
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