Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The government should take all the necessary measures to prevent Indonesian jihadis from leaving for Lebanon or they will only create more problems when they return home, Muslim scholars say.

"If they could really make it to Lebanon and survive the war, they would become problems when they come back to Indonesia," Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University rector Azyumardi Azra told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. "They would have the aura and charisma of fighters. This would be make it easier for them to recruit new militants."

Azyumardi urged the government to boost security measures around border areas to ensure that no militants left the country. "It should also coordinate with neighboring countries, such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, to check if some Indonesian jihadis have transited there," he said.

Azyumardi said Indonesians heading to Middle Eastern cities such as Abu Dhabi, Doha, Amman and Damascus should also be monitored. However, he said the government should not ban hard-liners from expressing their willingness to go on a jihad. "We just have to make sure that nobody leaves," he said.

The issue was not merely prohibiting jihadis from going to war-torn Lebanon, but to anticipate the growing radicalism among Indonesian Muslims, Azyumardi said. "We must not let happen a repeat of when many Muslims went to Afghanistan to help the Taliban fight the Soviets," he said.

Imam Samudra and Amrozi, two terrorists on death row for their key roles in the 2002 Bali bombings, were both trained for the Afghanistan war. Another hardline activist, Suaib Didu, recently boasted that thousands of Indonesians had signed up for jihad in Lebanon.

Militants who had returned from Afghanistan were also involved the bloody 2002 conflict between Muslims and Christians in Maluku.

Former Muhammadiyah chairman Ahmad Syafii Maarif said it was unwise for ulema to encourage young Muslims to fight a holy war in Lebanon. "I think there is no wisdom in doing so," he told the Post. He said the brutal Israeli offensive into Lebanon should not lead to Indonesian Muslims losing their heads. "I think whatever we do must be based on clear minds," he said.

However, Syafii doubted the recent conflict would boost militant movements in Indonesia, arguing radicalism was mainly triggered by injustice and uncertainty. "The country is not in a normal condition. When there is justice, radicalism will fade away by itself."

Azyumardi said that joining the fight against Israel was akin to suicide and would only further burden the people in Lebanon, including Hizbollah fighters.

Providing them with humanitarian aid would be much more useful, he said. "I hope ulema could explain to the people that there is no use going there for jihad."

National Resilience Agency governor Muladi warned Thursday that jihad volunteers were committing an illegal act and would not be protected under international law. "They could be considered terrorists. If caught, they could be sent to Guantanamo prison without trials," he said.

Didu, meanwhile, said he would continue recruiting jihadists, although Lebanese Ambassador Hasan Muslimani said Friday that his country did not want or need fighters from other countries. "We're not defending Lebanon, we're defending the oppressed," Didu told the Post on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Mujahidin Council said it would formally ask for police and the military to train jihadists before they departed to Lebanon. The hardline group has vowed to send 500 jihadists and medics to the country.

The police have pledged to prevent all would-be fighters from leaving for Lebanon.