By CHRIS BRUMMITT
May 11, 2005
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Dressed in flowing brown robe and turban, Abu Jibril raised his fist and promised worshippers in a packed suburban mosque that every coin they donate to overthrow Indonesia's secular government will be repaid hundreds of times over in heaven.
"The government no longer looks to Allah, but to America," said the soft-spoken preacher, who argues that only jihad, or holy war, can establish an Islamic state in Indonesia, home to more Muslims than any other. "Prepare your forces and banish the enemy."
Two years after the United States blocked Jibril's assets and declared him a terrorist - the alleged "primary recruiter and second in command" of Southeast Asia's deadliest al-Qaida-linked group, Jemaah Islamiyah - he's back delivering extremist sermons.
Indonesian authorities keep Jibril under surveillance, but say they have no evidence he has committed a crime in the country, where he was deported after his release a year ago from prison in Malaysia. Now, he travels, preaches and meets other known extremists and followers.
His case presents a dilemma for Indonesia as it tries to balance U.S. demands to further crack down on Islamic terrorists with the need to preserve democratic freedoms ushered in after the 1998 downfall of the dictator Suharto.
It also illustrates the difficulties authorities in Southeast Asia and elsewhere face in bringing to court terrorist suspects who have operated outside their countries. In cases against alleged militants, getting admissible evidence across borders has proved difficult.
Jibril, who is also known by a host of aliases including Mohammed Iqbal bin Abdul Rahman, denies having terrorist links and insists the U.S. allegations against him are false.
"They are no surprise because they come from a government of unbelievers," he told The Associated Press, sitting cross-legged on the floor of the Ar-Rahma Mosque on the grounds of a hospital in south Jakarta. "If they have proof, why don't they present it?"
But Jibril, 47, won't talk about his past, saying with a smile, "It is a long story."
In January 2003, the U.S. Treasury Department blocked Jibril's assets and accused him of being the "primary recruiter and second in command" of Jemaah Islamiyah, whose operations span 10 years and a half-dozen Southeast Asian countries.
The group, which officials say got funding from al-Qaida, is blamed for the 2002 bombings that killed 202 people on the resort island of Bali, a 2003 suicide bombing at a U.S.-owned hotel in Jakarta and a string of other attacks and plots against western targets.
In Washington, Treasury Department spokeswoman Molly Millerwise said Jibril's designation was based on domestic and foreign intelligence. She declined to give details - including how much money was frozen - or say if the information was shared with Indonesian authorities.
In his sermon last month, Jibril said Muslims were obliged to join a jihad to topple Indonesia's government and replace it with one based on Islamic law or Shariah.
"Those who say a jihad is not necessary are speaking nonsense," he said, without explicitly stating what form this holy war should take. Mainstream Islamic thinking argues violent jihad is only permissible in self-defence.
The sermon would have almost certainly got Jibril arrested under Suharto, who imprisoned hundreds of Muslim activists he saw as a threat to his U.S.-backed rule. Indonesian police have arrested more than 100 militants since 2001, at least 35 involved in the Bali conspiracy.
"His heart is certainly in the wrong place, but you can't put him behind bars for that," said Ken Conboy, a security analyst in Jakarta who is writing a book on Jemaah Islamiyah.
Building a case against Jibril is made more difficult because Indonesia has not outlawed Jemaah Islamiyah, a move that could trigger opposition from Muslim groups and political parties.
Ansyaad Mbai, who heads the counterterrorism desk at Indonesia's Security Affairs Ministry, acknowledged that fighting terrorism would be easier if the group was banned.
"We know there are many JI members who have military training and the ability to make bombs and use weapons who are still around," Mbai said. "But the police cannot arrest them unless there is evidence they are involved in a particular act of terrorism."
Jemaah Islamiyah's alleged leader, Hambali, is in U.S. custody.
Abu Bakar Bashir, Jemaah Islamiyah's alleged spiritual chief, is serving a 30-month sentence on terrorism charges related to the Bali attack. He has twice escaped longer punishments after judges ruled there was not enough evidence to back up more serious charges.
Jibril was among a small group of clerics - including Hambali and Bashir - who fled Suharto's Indonesia in 1985 and set up a hardline religious school in Malaysia.
Group members, including Jibril and Hambali, travelled to Afghanistan to join the fight against the Soviet invaders, and became the nucleus of Jemaah Islamiyah.
After Suharto's fall, Jibril was free to return to Indonesia.
In the late 1990s and early 2000, he became a key recruiter of Muslim fighters in a bloody war against Christians in the country's eastern Maluku province, Indonesian officials said. A video recording from this time shows Jibril with a pistol in one hand and a copy of the Qur'an, Islam's holy book, in the other, calling for death to Christians.
Jibril was arrested in Malaysia in June 2001 for militant activities and sent to a prison camp under a law allowing indefinite detention without trial. A crackdown launched after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States netted scores of other militant suspects in Malaysia, many linked to Jibril.
Two years later, Malaysia let the militancy allegations lapse and deported Jibril to Indonesia. His wife and children followed. Jibril was detained and questioned on his return, charged with immigration offences and served 5 1/2 months in prison.
At a recent meeting of militants in the backroom of a Jakarta restaurant, Jibril led prayers for the "holy warriors in Afghanistan, the Philippines and Indonesia." As he spoke his three-year-old son played at his feet, hiding in his robe.
Two policemen assigned to monitor the meeting sat in one corner, struggling to stay awake.
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