Posted by NEWS on 12/1/2005, 23:38:35 ELEANOR HALL: There's tension on another front over Australia's role in Aceh today, with Indonesia's leading extremist Muslim cleric warning Australian troops not to outstay their welcome. Abu Bakar Bashir, the accused leader of Jemaah Islamiah, has called on Indonesian Muslims to make sure that Australian and US troops do not deviate from their humanitarian work and become a permanent presence in the Indonesian Islamic province. Meanwhile Indonesian authorities are moving to stop the cleric's followers from taking part in the relief effort. In Jakarta, Rafael Epstein reports. RAFAEL EPSTEIN: As Aceh begins to recover, Abu Bakar Bashir continues his trial on charges of inciting terrorism. Australian intelligence agencies believe he founded Jemaah Islamiah, the group behind the Bali bombings and other terror attacks. During a break in his trial in Jakarta he told a group of reporters, including the ABC, that American and Australian troops in Aceh should watch their step. ABU BAKAR BASHIR (translated): We don't know what they will do yet, as long as it's a humanitarian mission it's good, but we have to be aware that they would not switch the humanitarian mission into something else. RAFAEL EPSTEIN: Insisting the Indonesian Government should keep an eye on foreign troops, Abu Bakar Bashir doesn't even want Australian or American aid workers directly handing out supplies, preferring it to be done by locals. ABU BAKAR BASHIR (translated): That's for sure. We're a foreign country, distributing directly by foreign force is not a good idea. Foreign nations should give the aid to the Government and let our Government distribute it. RAFAEL EPSTEIN: Safety concerns about Australians have so far centred on the possible threat from the rebels of the Free Aceh movement. Rebels and most in Aceh are not sympathetic to the militant ideology of terror groups like Jemaah Islamiah. Aceh though, is this country's most staunchly Muslim province, and it's the first to have introduced a version of sharia, or Islamic law. Hardline Muslims are watching closely. Muslim groups who support Bashir say the American and Australian troops in Aceh are the beginning of an increased western intervention in the world's biggest Muslim nation. Habib Rizieq Shihab is the head of the Islamic Defender's Front (FPI). They're in Aceh with 1,000 people, recovering bodies, distributing food and donations, and guarding Islamic law. He spoke to the ABC in Aceh. HABIB RIZIEQ SHIHAB (translated): It has become public knowledge, as the American, British and Australian proverb says, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Experience has given us a lesson that the United States and its allies, when they give aid to other countries, they usually have particular interests. We are not suspicious but we must be vigilant. RAFAEL EPSTEIN: While Habib Rizieq Shihab's group is working freely, a group more closely aligned with Abu Bakar Bashir has experienced tensions with the Indonesian military. The hardline face of Islam in Indonesia is engaged like so many others in the jockeying for influence over Aceh's future that's already begun. This is Rafael Epstein in Jakarta reporting for AM.
Bashir warns foreign troops over role in Indonesia
AM - Wednesday, 12 January , 2005 08:24:50
Reporter: Rafael Epstein
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