Australia's response to terrorism in the Asian region.

• Author: Shuja, Sharif
• Position: 155873240
• Pages: 49(12)

Terrorism can be defined as "a form of psychological warfare that is used to create extreme fear through the use of threat of force against non-combatant civilian military targets". (1) Terrorism is as much about psychological maiming as it is about physical destruction. Terrorists seek to be noticed and the mass media are often there to oblige them. Attacking a country's embassy, an airliner or a major commercial target provides the terrorists with the advertising that they covet.

The issue of terrorism has become increasingly important for Southeast Asian governments in the last few years. The increase in frequency and the effect of terrorist activities and political violence have threatened communities and stymied business growth and tourism. It has also impacted on Australia.

Australia was in the forefront of Western nations' demands that Indonesia crack down on the extremist Jemaah Islamiyah movement, which Indonesian government officials initially insisted did not exist in their country. Then came the shocking bomb explosions in Bali on the night of 12 October 2002. A total of 202 people were killed and 209 were wounded in the attacks. The bombing is considered the deadliest and ugliest act of terrorism in Indonesian history. The largest group among the killed were from Australia, leading to the day often being called "Australia's September 11".

It was a shocking and unexpected event for most Australians, and raised many questions about Australia's international and domestic security policies. The rapid formation of the Joint Investigation and Intelligence Team to investigate the Bali bombings, involving law enforcement officials from Australia and Indonesia, was a signal that there could be useful cooperation between the two governments on the issue.

The Indonesian authorities immediately sought executive powers to detain suspected individuals without recourse to the rule of law. Justice Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra justified the need for such powers, stating: "Terrorism is an extraordinary and inhuman crime. Therefore, we need extraordinary laws to deal with it." (2) Although human rights activists expressed fears that the government was adopting the draconian powers employed during President Suharto's dictatorship, they represented a minority voice. (3)

The Bali bombings have strengthened the political position of the Indonesian military and the police. Under pressure from Australia, the Indonesian security forces took a freer hand in tackling alleged terrorist groups. Australia cannot solve terrorism problems in Indonesia and, like other countries in Southeast Asia, depends on the Indonesian Government cracking down on Islamic extremists in Indonesia.

Southeast Asia has been regarded as important in the war on terrorism because it is home to a number of groups that resort to violence to further their cause, and because a number of al-Qaeda operatives can function in such weak states as Indonesia and the southern Philippines island of Mindanao. The Bali bombing, coupled with the detention of 15 terrorists in Singapore in December 2001 and another 21 in August 2002, does confirm, however, that terrorists with links to al-Qaeda are active in the region and continue to wage their global terrorist campaign. Southeast Asia is also called in the West a hotbed of Islamic radicalism. (4)

The assumption that the region is one of Islamic radicalism is erroneous. In the largest, predominantly Muslim states in the region--Indonesia and Malaysia--the Muslim population practises an essentially moderate and tolerant form of Islam. In Indonesia, the two main Islamic organisations, Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama, advocate a division between religion and politics; their memberships account for a quarter of the population. Both organisations have denounced extremism and violence committed by radical Islamic groups, with the Nahdlatul Ulama joining the Indonesian military in encouraging the government to enact anti-terrorist legislation. (5)

The leaders in both states are also moderates, with Malaysia's Mahathir Mohamad considered a prime example of a modern Muslim leader meshing traditional Islamic ideas with the requirements of a multi-racial, globalised society. Indeed, Mahathir used events since 9/11 to criticise the main opposition party, Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS), for its fundamentalist Islamic stance. The present Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is implementing Mahathir's policies. In Indonesia, which has a secular regime, the former Muslim president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, was the target of two assassination attempts by Omar al-Faruq, a top al-Qaeda representative in Southeast Asia, arrested in June 2002. (6) In other words, while extremists do exist, the vast majority of the region's Muslim population and the regimes in power practise a more moderate form of Islam.

However, Southeast Asia is also home to a variety of groups willing to resort to violence to further their cause. A number of guerrilla organisations there are seeking to gain independence (autonomy) for their regions. In Indonesia, these include the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Free Papua Movement (OPM). In the Philippines, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has sought an independent Islamic state in Mindanao.

In southern Thailand, a variety of militant organisations have sought autonomy for the Patani Malay. While Islam, with the exception of the OPM, is an important element in their identities, it relates to their "demands for autonomy or secession, not as an end in and of itself". (7) It should be noted these are not the militant groups that have emerged since 9/11 that threaten to wreak havoc on the region.

In addition to these nationalist groups, other groups that are little more than criminal gangs have engaged in hostage-taking, extortion and murder. The best known is Abu Sayyaf that operates in the southern islands of the Philippines. While there is some evidence of early links to al-Qaeda, (8) Abu Sayyaf has no coherent political agenda. In Indonesia, such criminal gangs include the Islamic Defenders Front (IDF) and Laskar Jihad, the latter being responsible for the upsurge in communal violence in the Moluccas in recent years.

As the Bali bombing revealed, some terrorist groups and religious institutions represent...