Muslim leaders: "Heaven for suicide bombers is a baseless belief"
"Killing like this is not war but unjustified aggression which should be condemned," said Nahdlatul Ulama leaders. Meanwhile, Azahari's relatives are in Jakarta to collect his remains.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) Indonesian Muslims must "stop believing" the "baseless belief" which assures suicide bombers of a place in paradise. "Killing is only recognized during war," said Kiai Haj Hasyim Muzadi, leader of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU, the country's largest Muslim organisation). "Thos who kill innocent people in peacetime should be condemned." His predecessor, Abdurrahman Wahid, better known as Gus Dur, added: "Killing in this way is certainly not war but unjustified aggression."
The Muslim leaders made their views clear while expressing "great concern" about video footage of testimonies by the Bali suicide bombers, who said they were convinced they had "a ticket for paradise" in hand. Right after staking their claim, they went on to kill 25 people and injure more than 130 in attacks on Jimbaran and Kuta on 1 October.
Hasyim said the terror cell network could be swiftly uprooted, if Muslims in Indonesia were asked to help security forces to end the violence. Terrorism must be stopped, he continued, because "nobody wants to 'convert' to Muslim because of a war."
Meanwhile, the relatives of the Malaysian terrorist Azahari bin Husin, arrived in the Indonesian capital yesterday. Azahari was killed on 9 November during an Indonesian police raid to capture him. "I will go to the Malaysian Embassy as soon as possible to be given assurances on the matter," said the alleged brother of Azahari on reaching Jakarta.
Hassan Wirayuda, Foreign Affairs Minister, said the authorities had nothing against allowing Azahari's body to be taken abroad because the public security forces had confirmed the terrorist 's identity thanks to fingerprints and there was "no longer need of the body for investigations".
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