November 25, 2002
Indonesia: the fear factor
by Sidney Jones Attacks attributed to Islamist groups are shaking the Philippines and Indonesia. The Bali bombing in October has weakened President Megawati, leading to economic difficulties and the risk that the army may intervene.THE Bali bombings on 12 October were not Indonesia's first encounter with international terrorism, but no attack on this scale had happened before, and no Indonesian believed that peaceful Bali would ever be a target (1). There were ever more urgent warnings from the United States throughout September that al-Qaida operatives were planning attacks in Indonesia, but mostly they fell on deaf ears. Indonesians were very sceptical about the reality of the terrorist threat. The government neither wanted to be seen as capitulating to US pressure, nor to be viewed as returning to the Suharto-era arbitrary arrests of political suspects. There was concern that any move against hardline Muslims, such as the cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, would be politically divisive, when President Megawati Sukarnoputri knew that she needed support from Muslim parties if she was to win another term in 2004.
Posted at November 25, 2002 12:39 PM | Indonesia
