Tag: counter-terrorism

  • Saudi Arabia Keluar Fatwa Untuk Jelaskan Mengapa Islam Harus Tolak IS

    Saudi Arabia Keluar Fatwa Untuk Jelaskan Mengapa Islam Harus Tolak IS

    RIYADH: Kepimpinan kanan ulama Arab Saudi telah mengeluarkan fatwa baru yang mengisytiharkan pengganasan sebagai “jenayah kejam” di bawah undang-undang syariah – yang merupakan satu lagi komitmen kerajaan Saudi untuk menolak IS dan kekejaman militan itu kononnya sebagai perjuangan atas nama Islam.

    “Pengganasan adalah bertentangan dengan tujuan agama Islam, iaitu membawa rahmat di seluruh dunia.

    “Pengganasan tidak ada kaitannya dengan Islam dan merupakan ideologi yang menyimpang.

    “Pengganasan tidak lebih daripada hanya kerosakan dan jenayah yang ditolak oleh undang-undang syariah dan akal budi,” kata para ulama dalam kenyataan yang dilaporkan Saudi Press Agency, seperti yang ditukil akhbar The Guardian.

    Sebarang Muslim yang berfikir bahawa jihad bermakna menyertai kumpulan pengganas “merupakan golongan yang bodoh dan tersesat,” tambah kumpulan ulama itu.

    Kewaspadaan Arab Saudi tentang militan IS kini semakin kuat sejak beberapa bulan kebelakangan ini.

    Raja Abdullah telah menggesa majlis ulama – badan agama negara itu – supaya bergerak lebih cepat mengutuk pengganasan dan mengurangkan tarikan kepada IS selepas Arab Saudi dan sembilan negara Arab lain menyertai perikatan antarabangsa yang dipimpin Amerika Syarikat untuk memerangi IS di Iraq dan Syria.

    Putera Mohammed bin Nayef, Menteri Dalam Negeri Arab Saudi, digambarkan di Riyadh sebagai penggerak utama di sebalik strategi dengan keselamatan dalam negeri dan dasar serantau diselaraskan dengan lebih berkesan bagi menangani IS.

    Februari lalu, Arab Saudi telah memerintahkan hukuman penjara bagi orang yang menyokong pertubuhan pengganas atau membuat perjalanan ke Syria atau Iraq bagi menyertai IS.

    Awal September lalu, 88 orang telah diberkas kerana menyokong Al-Qaeda dan pemimpin IS, Abu Bakar al-Bagdadi.

    Rakyat Arab Saudi kini membentuk kontinjen kedua terbesar pejuang Arab yang berjuang bersama IS.

    Arab Saudi sebelum ini dikejutkan dengan kritikan bahawa negara itu menyokong IS walaupun para pengamat berkata sokongan kewangan yang diberikan Arab Saudi adalah bagi kumpulan Islam yang menentang Presiden Syria, Encik Bashar al-Assad.

    Namun beberapa pihak berkata bantuan itu akhirnya mengalir kepada kumpulan yang dikaitkan dengan Al-Qaeda dan IS.

    Selepas menewaskan Al-Qaeda dalam kempen anti keganasan pada 2004, kerajaan Arab Saudi bimbang dengan kesan rakyat Arab Saudi yang pulang selepas berjuang di Syria dan Iraq.

    Sementara itu, Mufti Besar Arab Saudi, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Asheikh, memberi amaran bahawa musuh Islam kini menggunakan laman web sosial seperti Twitter untuk menyebarkan perkara palsu tentang Islam selain menyerang penganutnya.

    Portal berita Arab News melaporkan Sheikh Abdul Aziz meminta penduduk Arab Saudi yang menggunakan Twitter supaya berfikir terlebih dahulu sebelum menyiarkan apa-apa di akaun mereka.

    Beliau menggesa penduduk Arab Saudi agar memastikan apa yang disiarkan di akaun mereka akan menjaga kepentingan negara dan tidak memburukkan pemerintah negara ini.

    “Mereka yang memburukkan Islam tanpa malu tidak mempunyai sebarang pegangan dan tidak takut kepada Tuhan,” katanya dalam satu rancangan televisyen.

    Beliau berkata, Twitter menjadi laman web yang mempromosikan pelbagai jenis “kejahatan dan kerosakan”.

    “Penggunaan yang baik adalah apabila orang ramai yang menggunakan laman web itu mendapat faedah, namun sebaliknya mereka menggunakannya bagi perkara bukan-bukan,” jelasnya. – Agensi berita.


    “Pengganasan adalah bertentangan dengan tujuan agama Islam, iaitu membawa rahmat di seluruh dunia. Pengganasan tidak ada kaitannya dengan Islam dan merupakan ideologi yang menyimpang.”

    – Fatwa kepimpinan kanan ulama Arab Saudi.

     

    Source: www.beritaharian.sg

  • The Islamic State Ultimatum

    The Islamic State Ultimatum

    You get three choices, pay the Islamic State tax, convert or die.

    Then the first choice is taken off the table. That makes it quite simple. Convert or die.

    On my first day here in Jordan I came face to face with Iraqi Christians who had less than an hour to flee the advancing Islamic State. Standing in the bustling refugee processing centre in Amman, an Iraqi family tell me their story.

    It was June in Mosul and many thought the Peshmerga forces would stop the murderous militants from swamping their city. They were wrong.

    Time was short, hundreds of Christian families grabbed a few belongings and jumped in their cars heading East towards Irbil. But swathes of people with the same idea meant a 1.5 hour drive turned into a 20 hour journey from hell.

    They made it, and thanks to Peshmerga forces Irbil provided a safe haven for a few months. But the escalating violence has destroyed any hope these Iraqis had of a future in their home country.

    In the last two weeks over 800 Iraqis have arrived in Jordan seeking resettlement, according the UNHCR. They are now living on church floors amongst the Amman and Zarqa Christian communities.

    While the Iraqi families consider their resettlement options, Jordan is being faced with it’s own Islamic State ultimatum. The rise of the brutal jihadis has forced countries like Jordan to choose between security and humanity.

    As we walk through hundreds of refugees at the UNHCR’s Amman processing centre, the organisation’s head Andrew Harper tells me that fear of Islamic State militants crossing the border has been a game changer here in Jordan and other neighbouring countries.

    “The humanitarian focus has now been surpassed by the security focus,” Andrew Harper goes on to explain that in the last month very few refugees have been allowed to cross the Syrian border in Jordan. October was the lowest intake in two years.

    That’s created a nightmare situation where vulnerable Syrian refugees fleeing the Islamic State are starting to pile up at the border.

    Andrew Harper tells me there are 5000 asylum seekers piled up at Jordan’s eastern border crossing with Syria.

    “Anyone who is stuck at a border and is not allowed in is a massive concern because it’s my job to make sure that people fleeing violence have access to safety.”

    It’s obviously a tricky balance. While Jordan has been incredibly generous in accepting over 600,000 refugees they are now part of the US led coalition at war with the Islamic State.

    If security concerns means thousands of refugees stuck at the border become sitting ducks for Islamic State militants it will take this three year long catastrophe to another level.

     

    Source: www.abc.net.au/triplej/hack

  • Indonesia’s Chief of Defence Force Calls for Greater Regional Cooperation Against IS

    Indonesia’s Chief of Defence Force Calls for Greater Regional Cooperation Against IS

    Indonesia’s chief of defence forces General Moeldoko has called for greater regional cooperation in the global fight against the Islamic State (IS) threat.

    He spoke in Singapore on Wednesday (Oct 29), at a lecture organised by the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies. These were his first public comments in Singapore since the appointment of Indonesia’s new President, Joko Widodo.

    In a lecture titled TNI Future Challenges and Opportunities, the General sketched out the broad challenges for the Indonesian armed forces and the importance of regional cooperation. A key focus was the IS threat and the danger it may pose in the future to this part of the world.

    “There have been several people from countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia who have gone to Syria and Iraq to join IS. We need to find a common understanding among the ASEAN Chief of Defence Forces, to anticipate the future risk, when these fighters return to their home countries. We need to think of concrete steps to deal with this threat,” he said.

    The General said it is hard to predict the strategy of IS militants and this is why it is critical for regional forces to come together, consider future scenarios and come up with action plans.

    To this end, he said he intends to propose a meeting of regional defence chiefs to discuss the IS threat, at the ASEAN Chief of Defence Forces informal meeting to be held in Malaysia next year. Indonesia hosted a similar meeting earlier this year for military and peacekeeping personnel from 33 countries, at its Peace and Security Centre in Sentul, West Java.

    General Moeldoko emphasised in his lecture that the IS ideology does not represent Islam: “I am a Muslim and I can tell you that IS does not represent the Islam that I know. There will be no chance for IS to spread in Indonesia.”

    He also touched on President Widodo’s vision of making Indonesia a global maritime axis. He said Indonesia plays an important role in maritime security and stressed the need to enhance regional cooperation, to protect the lucrative trade route along the Straits of Malacca.

    The lecture was followed by a 30-minute closed-door question-and-answer session involving more than 100 people. Issues raised included Indonesia’s relations with a rising China, as well as territorial disputes in the South China Sea and the impact on regional security.

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore