[Nasional-d] Laskar Jihad will leave Poso conflict area gradually

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Jakarta Post Oct. 22, 2002

Laskar Jihad will leave Poso conflict area gradually

PALU, Central Sulawesi (JP): Former chairman of the Central Sulawesi branch
of the "Ahlussunah wal Jamaah" Communication Forum, which oversees the Laskar
Jihad Muslim militia group, Zabir, disclosed here on Monday that all members
of the militia would leave the Poso conflict area by the end of next month.
"All 200 members of the militia (mainly deployed to Poso) will leave Central
Sulawesi province by the end of next month at the latest," Zabir told Antara.

On Saturday Oct. 12, the militia's commander Jafar Umar Thalib dissolved
Laskar Jihad, saying that the militia was no longer needed as a legion.
He said the organization would alternate its activities to serve in social
and religious missions in the fields of education, health care and Islamic
propagation.

Following the dissolution, some 780 members left the Ambon conflict area in
Maluku province for their respective hometowns in Java.
Meanwhile, Zabir pointed out that some 70 members had left Poso, while the
rest would be sent back to Java gradually. "It is likely that I will be the
last to go," he said.

He said the militia members have been instructed by forum leaders in its
headquarters in Saudi Arabia to leave the conflict areas.

The Laskar Jihad members had originally been recruited voluntarily from Java
to help wage war with fellow Muslims involved in clashes against residents of
the country's predominantly Christian areas, particularly in Ambon, Maluku
and Poso, Central Sulawesi.