An alleged terrorist goes legit – Asia Times
July 14th, 2007
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/IG14Ae01.html
Abu Bakar Bashir (C) and followers, wait for the trial to begin in Jakarta 19/7/07 (BAY ISMOYO/AFP/Getty Images)
DILI – After spending two years in prison on terror-related charges, Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, widely regarded as Indonesia’s most radical Islamic cleric, is plotting his next career move: into mainstream politics.
A spokesman for Ba’asyir’s Indonesian Mujahedeen Council (MMI) told Indonesian media last week that the controversial cleric is weighing a run for the presidency at the 2009 polls. Ba’asyir’s spokesman said that before officially declaring his candidacy, “He wants to see what people say first.”
Ironically, perhaps, the radical cleric would likely aim to run on a morality ticket, attempting to seize on growing public cynicism over official corruption, including recent damaging allegations that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono received illicit funds to finance his 2004 election campaign. (Yudhoyono has denied the allegations, which were lodged by an opposition politician).
Ba’asyir was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in March 2005 on conspiracy charges related to the 2002 Bali bomb attacks, which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. That sentence was eventually reduced and he was released last December, irking Canberra – many of those killed in Bali were Australians – and enraging the victims’ family members.
Western officials have contended that Ba’aysir is the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), an Indonesia-based Islamic radical group accused of various terror attacks, including the 2002 Bali bombings, the 2003 J W Marriott Hotel bombing in Jakarta, which killed 14 people, and the 2004 Australian Embassy bombing, also in the Indonesian capital. (more…)
Sudan: Its not just Darfur – Village
July 10th, 2007
http://www.village.ie/World/Africa/Sudan%3A_It%92s_Not_Just_Darfur/
Looming behind the humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur is Sudan’s other, older, bigger war – the 1983-2005 north-south conflict that claimed over two million lives and displaced over four million people. The conflict was resolved, on paper at least, by the January 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA); that agreement is now in jeopardy.
At an event held in South Sudan’s regional capital, Juba, on 9 January 2007 to celebrate the CPA’s second anniversary, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Vice-President Salva Kiir — also South Sudan’s regional president — traded public accusations over responsibility for Sudan’s peace-building failures. (more…)
EU envoy: Malay policy ‘discriminatory’ – ISN
July 4th, 2007
EU envoy’s comments on Malaysian economic and social policies cause furor and focus attention on alleged discrimination in advance of trade talks and parliamentary elections.
By Simon Roughneen in Kuala Lumpur
The senior European Commssion (EC) representative in Malaysia has become embroiled in a row with government ministers over critical remarks made about the country’s economic policy. The remarks have heightened tensions and focused minds on internal Malaysian political and economic issues in the run-up to the EU-ASEAN trade negotiations and are seen as an implicit intervention in Malaysian party politics in the lead-up to elections, which could be held later this year.
Thierry Rommel, head of the EC Delegation to Malaysia, accused the Malaysian government of maintaining a discriminatory and protectionist economic policy. In a widely reported speech made on 21 June to the EU-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Rommel asserted that: “Malaysia claims that these are infant industries that need to be protected [...] but is the Malay-centered policy that drives protectionist polices.” (more…)
Sudan: Unresolved Conflict Risks War Beyond Darfur – World Politics Review
June 28th, 2007
http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/article.aspx?id=892
Instability could jeopardise even small-scale rebuilding projects, such as this one at Malakal, Upper Nile State (Simon Roughneen)
The world has dithered in putting together the necessary political response to the humanitarian catastrophe that has ensued in Darfur since 2003. The latest “breakthrough,” with the Sudanese government consenting to a hybrid U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur, comes after years of stalling by Khartoum, and half-hearted efforts by the international community.In any case, the 20,000 troops will not get on the ground before 2008, and the peace agreement that they are meant to be enforcing remains a dead letter. So not much is likely to change for the traumatized people of Darfur anytime soon, despite French President Sarkozy”s nouveau conflict resolution drive.
Sudan”s other, older war — the much larger 1983-2005 North-South conflict, which claimed over 2 million lives and displaced over 4 million people — was resolved, on paper at least, by the January 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). But that agreement is now in jeopardy.
At an event held in South Sudan”s regional capital Juba on Jan. 9, 2007, to celebrate the CPA”s second anniversary, Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir and Vice President Salva Kiir, who is also South Sudan”s regional president, traded public accusations over responsibility for Sudan”s peace-building failures. This followed the deaths of hundreds in serious north-south clashes in the southern town of Malakal in November 2006. (more…)
Vast archipelago has ambiguous religious tolerance – The Irish Times
June 14th, 2007
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2007/0614/1181302133333.html
Despite catching a key terror suspect, Indonesia has gradually seen the rise of radical Islamist groups, writes Simon Roughneen
Delegates at Bali conference (LibForAll)
BALI: As an international religious tolerance gathering opens in Indonesia, it has emerged that the country’s most-wanted Islamist terror suspect has been caught during a raid in central Java.
Abu Dujana is linked to the 2002 Bali bombings that killed over 200 people, mostly foreign tourists visiting the southern Indonesian resort. Dujana, arrested on Saturday, will also be questioned about the 2004 Australian embassy explosion. Police took a number of days to identify him through DNA-testing and fingerprinting, as he operated under numerous aliases.
Dujana allegedly heads the military wing of Jemaah Islamiya (JI), a large but relatively inscrutable organisation founded in 1993.
JI seeks the creation of an Islamic state spanning Indonesia, Malaysia, the southern Philippines, southern Thailand, Singapore and Brunei. It is thought to have forged links with al-Qaeda, as well as Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the southern Philippine island of Mindinao. (more…)
Sinn Féin: A bad day at the office – ISN
June 7th, 2007
With Sinn Féin faring poorly in Ireland’s recent elections, the party’s long-term ambitions are in jeopardy.
For the high jump? Gerry Adams campaigning in Co Wexford (Irish Independent)
Commentary by Simon Roughneen for ISN Security Watch
“Tiocfaidh ár lá!” is a well-known Irish rallying cry in Sinn Féin neighborhoods in Northern Ireland. Translated into English as “Our Day Will Come,” this piece of political eschatology points to the day when Northern Ireland will form part of a unified all-Ireland state joined to the Republic of Ireland, which takes up most of the island.
But after a dismal performance in the 24 May parliamentary election in the Republic, Sinn Féin’s meager four seats in the new Irish Parliament (out of 166 up-for-grabs) means that the day envisioned remains somewhat distant.
While Sinn Féin’s role in Northern Ireland is relatively well-known, and its ambitions to merge the mini-province with its larger neighbor to the south are long-held, less clear to outside observers is its presence in the Republic of Ireland and the centrality of its Dublin strategy for achieving its aims in Belfast.
Sinn Féin had hoped to gain 10 to12 seats in the Republic – potentially enough to make itself a viable coalition partner for the larger parties. Becoming even a minor coalition partner in a sovereign state – which has been Europe’s most dynamic economy for almost a decade – has been a long-standing ambition for the party. (more…)
Howard’s Way: in or out? – Village/ISN
May 29th, 2007
Australian Prime Minister and key US ally John Howard has intimated that he could stand down as leader of the Liberal Party in an effort to boost its re-election chances.
By Simon Roughneen in Darwin
Since last week, the Australian media have been buzzing with rumors over the future of evergreen Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
With an election looming and the Liberals lagging behind the main opposition Labor Party in polls, the prime minister told his coalition’s weekly meeting of MPs that “the public opinion polls suggest we would not just lose, but be annihilated,” according to news reports.
This was leavened by Howard’s admission to Sky News that his own political longevity could hinder his party’s re-election bid. (more…)
Peace in peril: Sudan, two years on – openDemocracy
January 17th, 2007
http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-africa_democracy/sudan_peril_4256.jsp
An event on 9 January 2007 to celebrate the second anniversary of Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in Juba, the capital of southern Sudan, provided vivid evidence that the full resolution of the twenty-two-year civil war in the country was still incomplete. At the gathering, Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir and his vice-president Salva Kiir – who is also southern regional president – traded public accusations over responsibility for Sudan’s peacebuilding failures.
The open disagreement – which followed serious north-south clashes in the key southern Nile town of Malakal in late November 2006, when hundreds of people were killed in fighting – signals a serious rift between the partners in Sudan’s post-conflict government. The question it raises is: do these political rivalries form the prelude to a resumption of widespread armed conflict? (more…)
Downhill to the summit – ISN
January 17th, 2007
Summits such as Monday’s African Union (AU) gathering in Addis Ababa are often depicted as “pivotal” or “ground-breaking” or some such hyperbolic epithet. But for once, such appellations may actually be applicable. This time, the AU refused to allocate its revolving chairmanship to Sudanese leader Oman al-Bashir.
Had it not, the AU would have been left in the absurd position of being formally headed by a state that is a central player in a conflict region where AU peacekeeping troops are deployed.
Rebels in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region had pre-empted the summit by declaring that AU peacekeepers would become legitimate targets should Sudan be given the AU chair.
This time last year disagreement among AU states over rights abuses and ongoing violence in Darfur saw al-Bashir’s candidacy postponed until 2007. However, the situation in Darfur has deteriorated since early 2006. (more…)
Somalia in Catch-22 after Islamists are routed – ISN
January 8th, 2007
With an apparently facile victory achieved over the Council of Somalia Islamic Courts, the Ethiopian-backed Transitional Federal Government faces a more difficult challenge in establishing a functioning government in Somalia.
Ethiopian soldier (AFP/Getty)
By Simon Roughneen
After a blitzkrieg campaign launched Christmas Eve involving an estimated 15,000 Ethiopian troops backed by tanks, fighter jets and helicopter gunships, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has established itself in Mogadishu, after spending most of its precarious and ineffective existence thus far in the western town of Baidoa.
The quick defeat of the Islamists has averted fears of a Somali vortex pulling the Horn of Africa into a regional war. But in its place, a long-running guerrilla campaign and renewed insecurity are likely. Princeton Lyman, Africa Program Director at the Council on Foreign Relations, told ISN Security Watch, “I expect a good deal of instability and warlord-type of activity for awhile at least.”
Ethiopian and TFG troops much assert control rapidly, before Islamists regroup or are rearmed by the Hawiye, as a means of curbing renewed warlord chaos. The Ethiopian presence may radicalize a greater proportion of Somali Muslims. (more…)
