Jakarta – Former chief of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), A.M. Hendropriyono, has said in his latest book that Indonesia is one of the world's most strategic countries for the educating and training of new terrorist cells.

During his book launch here Monday, Hendropriyono said hard-line Islamic boarding schools across the country had become breeding grounds for new terrorists. Hendropriyono said there were hundreds of such schools across the country.

"The schools contain congregations consisting of hard-liners adhering to foreign fundamental ideologies that differ from moderate Islam, which was common to Indonesians," he said

He added that moderate Islam had been widely spread by the country's two largest Muslim organizations: Nahdhatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah. Nahdhatul Ulama has around 40 million members while Muhammadiyah has around 30 million.

Hendropriyono said there were now other Muslim groups that encouraged followers to die in the name of God by fighting holy wars against those who rejected their teachings. He added the groups followed two main ideologies: Ikhwanul Muslimun Jihad and Ikhawanul Muslimun Tarbiyah.

"Ikhwanul Muslimin Jihad in Indonesia contains radical practices inspired by the wars in Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden is Jihad's main leader," Hendropriyono said during the launch of his book titled: Terrorism: Christian, Jewish, Islamic Fundamentalists in Jakarta.

He said Ikhwanut Muslimin Jihad was founded in Indonesia in 1971 at the Islamic boarding school, Al-Mu'min, which was established by Abdullah Sungkar and Abu Bakar Baasyir, former head of the Indonesian Mujahidin Council, in Ngruki, Solo, Central Java.

Sungkar allegedly has connections to Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), while Baasyir is widely regarded to be the groups spiritual leader.

JI is suspected to have masterminded the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings, as well as the attacks on the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels in Jakarta in July this year.

Another terrorism expert, Suryadarma Salim, also said Indonesia was highly vulnerable to terrorism. He warned that other terrorists may keep trying to spread their ideology even though the police had recently killed high-profile terrorist leader, Noordin M. Top.

"They apply different bomb assembly methods to the Indonesian military and the police," he said.

Different from Jihad, Hendropriyono said the Ikhwanul Muslimin Tarbiyah movement was not quite as radical or widely accepted in many countries, including Indonesia.

Tarbiyah's main aim is to establish an Islamic nation by non-violent means and has utilized democracy to achieve its goals.

Hendropriyono said Tarbiyah came to Indonesia in the 1980s through Islamic alumni from the Middle East. He said the Tarbiyah movement was widespread in many universities through campaigns conducted by senior students.

He added the Tarbiyah now had more than 20,000 members ready for missionary work across Indonesia. "I recommend that the government and the House of Representatives endorse an anti-violence bill to mitigate the impact of terrorism," he said. (nia)