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| Members of a hardline group burn a Myanmar flag during a protest oustide the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta on Friday. (AFP) |
JAKARTA: Hours after Indonesia announced it had foiled an alleged plot to bomb the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta, hundreds of people gathered outside the mission yesterday calling for fight in that country against the ongoing persecution of the Rohingyas.
Two suspected Indonesians were arrested the night before, and five homemade bombs were seized from a backpack they were carrying after authorities were tipped to their whereabouts, said National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar. Their interrogation led to a rented house where other explosive materials were found.
Amar said the men, Achmad Taufiq, 22, and Sefa Riano, 29, were part of a cell allegedly involved in recent attacks against Indonesian police.
Meanwhile, up to 2,000 police were deployed yesterday to secure the Myanmar Embassy and its ambassador’s house before a demonstration by the Islamic Defenders Front. Several hundred protesters showed up dressed in white with some holding banners that read: “Stop genocide in Myanmar.”
They gathered in the street in front of rows of police, peacefully waving flags and shouting: “Muslims unite! Will not be defeated!”
The US Embassy issued a notice urging its citizens to stay away from the area. Truckloads of officers, many in riot gear, were placed at nearby buildings and hotels while water cannons and armored vehicles were parked on the street.
Similar protests with hundreds of participants were also held in the central Java town of Solo and at a Buddhist temple in Medan, the provincial capital of North Sumatra.
Sectarian violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar has killed scores, and thousands of Muslims have been driven from their homes. Earlier this week, one person was killed and 160 mosques, homes and shops were destroyed in an area not far from Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city.
Members of the Rohingya ethnic group in particular face severe discrimination. They are considered to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, despite the fact many were born in Myanmar.
Indonesians have rallied in defense of Rohingya Muslims in the past, and last year jailed radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir sent a letter to Myanmar’s president threatening to attack the country over their persecution.
Ten days ago, Bashir issued a new call urging Indonesian Muslims to go to Myanmar to fight.
Bashir is the spiritual leader of al-Qaida-linked militants blamed for a string of deadly attacks in Indonesia, including the 2002 bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, on the resort island of Bali.
“I can’t wait to go to Myanmar for jihad to defend our Muslim brothers there,” said Adit Pratama, 26, who attended yesterday’s demonstration, adding funds are now being raised to help Rohingya in Myanmar and for those who are ready for jihad there.
Indonesia jails German, S. African drug smugglers
An Indonesian court has sentenced a German man and a South African woman to life in prison for attempting to smuggle drugs into a resort island in two separate cases, a judge said yesterday.
Rolf Oskar Josef Schweikert, 57, was caught trying to smuggle 3.7 kg (more than 8 pounds) of hashish into the island of Lombok, just east of Bali, in October as he arrived on a Silk Air flight from Singapore.
He was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday at the district court in the city of Mataram, judge Pastra Joseph Ziralluo told AFP.
Kathlyn Dunn, 28, was arrested arriving on a Silk Air flight from Singapore two days before the German, attempting to smuggle in 2.6 kg of crystal methamphetamine, said the judge.
She “was given the same sentence” on Wednesday, Ziralluo said. However, he stressed that the court had not made any connection between the cases and the pair were tried separately.
The two were both charged with “attempting to import drugs”, but they avoided the maximum sentence of death by firing squad.
Credit & Copy From; http://www.arabnews.com/news/450314
