AS INDONESIA celebrated its 64th independence day yesterday, Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the country’s youth needed to be protected from “deviant” influences that could cause them to turn to terrorism, one month after a teenage suicide bomber killed himself and five others at the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta.
Security remains high in the southeast Asian city since the attack, and police have been mobilised to crack down on the terrorist group responsible for the near-simultaneous bombings of the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, which killed nine and injured more than 50.
“Let’s protect our citizens and youth from deviant and extreme thoughts that can lead them to terrorism,” Mr Yudhoyono said in a televised 90-minute speech in parliament to celebrate the country’s independence.
“The terrorist acts of bombing public places are truly inhumane . . . our strategy is first to overcome the root causes and secondly to prevent and eliminate acts of terror any time, anywhere.”
Mr Yudhoyono is seen as a reformist figure who has kept the army onside in the young democracy but who faces major challenges in combating corruption and poverty.
Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim country and the majority of Muslims adhere to a moderate form of Islam, although radical fringe elements are gaining influence, especially among the young.
Almost 300 people have been killed in terrorist attacks in Indonesia since the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202, many of them foreigners. However, the July 17th attacks came after four years of peace in Indonesia.
Security forces say Malaysian-born Noordin Mohammad Top was responsible for planning last month’s attack and for recruiting the suicide bombers.
Noordin, who formed a violent wing of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) network, is blamed for masterminding other attacks as well, including on the Australian embassy in Jakarta in 2004 and in Bali in 2005.
The government said at one point that it had captured Noordin, southeast Asia’s most-wanted man, but he appears to have escaped a series of police raids last week in which police killed three militants. He also escaped from a shoot-out with police in 2004.
A recent posting on the internet claiming to be from Noordin said he would continue his fight against US interests in Indonesia.
Mr Yudhonyon, speaking days after police said they had foiled a plot to blow up his private residence using a truck driven by a suicide bomber, thanked the security forces for their efforts but called for more vigilance.
“I ask the police and the other security forces to never be complacent. Boost awareness, prevent and eliminate terrorism to its roots, wherever, whoever they are and whatever their motives,” he said in his speech.
Despite the violence, the world’s fourth-largest country remains stable. Mr Yudhoyono won a strong mandate in recent elections and Indonesia’s economy, which is largely driven by its domestic market of 226 million people,is expected to grow by more than 4 per cent this year.
The poverty rate fell to 14.1 per cent in March compared to 16.7 per cent in 2004, while unemployment is also falling.