Abu Bakar Bashir, a prominent cleric in Indonesia, has defended last Friday's twin bombings in Jakarta which killed nine and left more than 50 wounded.
In an interview with The Australian newspaper, Bashir said that the use of terror is justified in the war against non-Muslims.
Authorities suspect involvement of a Jemaah Islamiya (JI) splinter group in Friday's near-simultaneous suicide blasts at the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels in Jakarta.
Bashir blamed the Indonesian government for the attacks, saying that terrorism will not end until Jakarta recognizes the supremacy of Islamic law.
"This [terror] will not end until the government follows the right path," he said.
Asked by The Australian whether he felt any sadness for the victims of the attacks, Bashir said: "What makes me sad about the bombings was that it involved innocent people being killed.
"People such as women and children who are not involved in the fight against Muslims should not be killed.
"But the problem is we don't know for sure that the victims weren't involved in the fight against Islam. Even the thought of fighting against Islam is involvement. Everyone that thinks like that is allowed to be killed."
Around 2,000 students attend the al-Mukmin religious school he co-founded and 15 of his former students are said to have been involved in terror activities across Indonesia.
However, Bashir denied links to his school and last week's bombings.
"The connections between al-Mukmin and the Marriott bombing is just an allegation," he said.
He also denied the existence of terror suspects belonging to the Muslim faith. "There are no Muslim terrorists. The terrorists are the CIA, the Americans, and the Australians. They're the ones who terrorize Muslims. The Australians are making a fuss about their victims, but when it comes to Muslim victims they don't say anything about it."
Bashir believes foreign influence in Indonesia, particularly from the United States, has resulted in continued instability, and believes "the Islamic way" will serve as a solution.
"My war is to promote Islam through preaching. God willing, if the [Indonesian] government can return to the Islamic way, we can fight the Americans because those kafirs [non-Muslims] are weak. God willing, the jihadists will prevail."
[See also MEMRI TV Clip No. 1598, "Leader of Indonesian Jama'a Islamiyya Abu Bakr Al-Ba'shir: I Support Bombings in America, But Not in the Muslim World"]
Source: English.Aljazeera.net, July 23, 2009
