AhlulBayt News Agency

source : ABC.net.au
Tuesday

19 August 2014

5:52:30 PM
632227

Indonesians reject Islamic extremism after call by IS leader for Muslims to join his cause

A Jakarta-based terrorism expert says there's been a unified backlash in Indonesia against the extremist group ISIS, which is now branded Islamic State.

The group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has called on Muslims around the world to join him to create a caliphate across Syria and Iraq.

Sidney Jones from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict says Indonesia shares the Australian government's concerns about the group posing a significant risk to domestic security.

"There's rejection, absolutely, of both the caliphate of al-Baghdadi, as well as of the tactics used by ISIS in the pursuit of their objectives, particularly executions of other Muslims," Dr Jones told ABC AM.

She says she's surprised by how widespread the condemnation of ISIS has been, ranging from mainstream Muslims to parts of the more extreme Jihadi community.

"We've seen a bigger backlash and a strong backlash against ISIS than anything we've seen in Indonesia over the last ten years. And reaction and the condemnations of ISIS are coming from all quarters."

In a video which emerged in July, a bearded man in a black robe and black turban thought to be al-Baghdadi, delivers a sermon below the black flag of the Islamic State.

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