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No Further Arrests of Islamic Figures, Muslim Leader Says
Wednesday, October 30, 2002
The Jakarta Post

"We have demanded that the arrest should only be undertaken if there is solid evidence, or else Ba'asyir should be set free. The arrest should not be based on allegations by Omar al-Faruq as carried by Time magazine. Ba'asyir is just an ordinary man, but he has been made by Time to appear as an international monster."

SURABAYA, East Java -- JP
Prof. Syafi'i Ma'arif, the chairman of the Muhammadiyah, the country's second largest Islamic organization, has warned the Indonesian government against arresting other Muslim leaders, after the arrest of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.

"Please, do not try to (arrest other Muslim leaders), or else we will shout from the rooftops in protest. After all, I believe that Ba'asyir is just a scapegoat in response to pressure from a dictating country, the United States," Syafi'i said as quoted by Antara after delivering a speech at a workshop called "United Indonesia in Anticipation of the Globalization Era", here on Tuesday.

According to the lecturer at the Yogyakarta State University, many Muslim figures and leaders of pesantrens (Islamic boarding schools) have become uneasy following the arrest of Ba'asyir, who is chairman of the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI) and leader of the Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Ngruki, Surakarta, Central Java.

"I don't think there will be further arrests (of Muslim leaders). However, just in case, we are going to shout our protest. Don't arrest Muslim leaders upon the orders of a third party," he said.
(More: TheJakartaPost.com News Source)
2002 © The Jakarta Post.

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