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Jakarta to Forbid People From Joining Jihad in Afghanistan
The Indonesian government would forbid its citizens from going to Afghanistan as jihad (holy war) fighters.
"We will not allow any citizen to go to Afghanistan (for jihad), " Religious Affairs Minister Said Aqil Munawar said in Malang, East Java province, on Saturday.
The minister said the government had already made a statement regarding the jihad issue especially in connection with people who wished to go for a jihad in Afghanistan.
He said that jihad should have been understood not narrowly but universally.
"Jihad should not always be understood as taking arms or waging a war but could also mean being against cruelties or upholding truth. So, there is no need for us to go to Afghanistan for a jihad," he was quoted by the Antara News Agency Sunday as saying.
Asked what his ministry would do in case some people insisted of going to Afghanistan, Munawar said he had already coordinated with other authorities concerned to anticipate the possibility.
If people still went to Afghanistan in spite of the ban they would face legal actions.
"They could lose their citizenship if they ignore the ban," he added.
Some Indonesian Muslim organizations have opened offices to register people prepared to be sent to Afghanistan as jihad fighters in reaction to the U.S. threat to attack that country in its effort to seize Osama bin Laden who it believes is hiding there.
Several Islamic organizations in Indonesia have also threatened to conduct sweeps against American citizens in the country if the U.S. carries out its plan to launch military strikes at Afghanistan.
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