The tide turns in Indonesia

Some distressing news from A Western Heart: bq. The Religion of Peace to the Rescue? Or is Violence on the Cards? Apparently several radical Islamic groups are currently recruiting people to head over to Aceh, pronto! Absolutely no one's questioning their right to help their own people, and of course they're making all the right bury-the-hatchet type noises - or are they?

Radical groups arrive in force Radical Islamic groups best known for smashing bars and violent support of jailed cleric Abu Bakar Bashir have sent large contingents to Aceh province with funding from the Indonesian Government. At the airport, members of Bashir's group, the MMI, have been unloading trucks with supplies to be ferried to disaster-struck areas by US navy helicopters. One man was proudly wearing an Osama bin Laden T-shirt.

bq. Great. And I'll bet laughing boy just slipped that on because everything else was in the wash. The reality, however, is sounding far more sinister. Something has been brewing for several days now, with various Asian media outlets around the region reporting an increasingly disturbing movement, including the recruitment of Jihadis, to go to Aceh. With that in mind, and with the example of the clever fellow in the latest in Osama casual wear, I wouldn't be at all surprised if this lot aren't going in with the intention of seeing if they can provoke an incident. The question is, if something happens, is the Indonesian Government going to protect our people, and (God forbid) shoot its own?

The head of the FPI contingent, Hilmy Bakar Almascaty, said about 250 members of his group had come to Aceh with plane tickets from the Indonesian Government. He said another 800 were on an Indonesian warship on their way to help clean up the province. "FPI is not only an organisation that destroys bars and discos, it has a humanitarian side as well that the media is not happy to expose," he said.

bq. Maybe that's because our definitions of humanitarianism don't necessarily accord, hey Dr Almascaty?

Early yesterday morning, 50 of his troops wearing FPI shirts went through military drills before heading to the city to help collect corpses that still have not been recovered from the millions of tonnes of rubble.

bq. Wow - now that's got to be appropriate, hasn't it? Of course, you never do know when you might have to go into action to, I don't know, take out - well - anybody who needs it, I guess. I wonder who they might have in mind?

Dr Almascaty . . . was determined to ensure that foreign soldiers and aid workers did not lead to a breakdown in shariah or Islamic law. "If anyone who comes here does not respect the shariah law, traditions and constitution, we must give them a warning and then we must attack," he said.

bq. I think the word 'attack' carries some pretty important overtones, myself. More at the link above. And let us not forget that Saudi Arabia has given $150 Million to the families of suicide bombers but only $30 Million to their brethren in need. It was $10 Million but they upped it when US Private Contributions topped $350 Million.