Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Declaring a jihad or holy war against America and its citizens in Indonesia has become a surefire way for radical Muslim groups to gain their 15 minutes of fame and maintain their position in Indonesia's unsettled political landscape.

Before September 11, Iqbal Siregar, a partially-blind Muslim and leader of the fundamentalist Islamic Youth Front (IYF), was relatively unknown. His movement apparently developed in Solo during the Suharto era in 1972, but few political or Islam watchers had even heard of Iqbal before he decided to declare a jihad against America and called on "devout" Muslims to fight a holy war in Afghanistan.

Now Iqbal and his commander – Handriansyah – are interviewed daily by local and international media alike. However, his group has so far failed to attract thousands of would-be jihad fighters onto the streets of Jakarta and he has also failed to show that he has been training the "fighters".

Observers say calls for a jihad are a surefire way to ensure 15 minutes of fame. "There's a lot of competition among radical groups. Even though they can never enter and influence the larger parties, these things ensure temporary fame," says Mr Zainuddin Fananie, a political analyst who tracks Muslim groups.

"Either these groups are struggling for Islamic law to be imposed or radical Islamic groups are being used as a tool for certain people. However, the second option is most likely." He said support for their calls to introduce Islamic law in Indonesia was minimal.

As Mr Zainuddin and other analysts point out, Indonesia has a history of powerful individuals and political groups using radical groups, which may have entirely different aims, in order to put pressure on the opposition. "It is possible rogue elements such as former Suharto supporters or military elements are still playing with these groups for their own interests," said analyst Riza Sihbudi.

One theory is that these groups may be creating an unstable situation to try to block investigations into former Suharto cronies and Golkar members, or to prevent the military from being tried for various human-rights abuses.

The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), which has one of the worst records for violence and has threatened to expel foreigners, is backed by military elements and was also used during former president B.J. Habibie's time to attack pro-democracy demonstrators.

Although espousing Islamic values, the FPI is basically a group of thugs used by the police and the military to extort protection fees from bars and clubs. The group demands a standard fee of 50 million rupiah (S$9,500) from each club.

Other groups, however, are using the attacks on Afghanistan as a lobbying tool for their political parties, or simply just to pressure President Megawati Sukarnoputri's government into adopting a more sympathetic Muslim stance.

One militant group, Hezbollah Front, is reported to have links with some of the more radical Islamic parties such as Crescent Star and also with Vice-President Hamzah Haz's PPP party, and could be using the issue to campaign for the Muslim-based parties, said Mr Zainuddin.

The most worrying groups were Kammi and the Islamic Students Body (HMI) because they were more moderate groups which had the potential to influence students and ordinary Indonesians alike, said political analyst Lambang Trijono. They are mostly made up of idealistic and devout students, but even they are being controlled, or at least influenced, by certain political parties, claim commentators.

The HMI has been funded by influential Golkar and National Mandate Party politicians, who may be supporting the demonstrations as a way of distracting public attention away from incomplete probes into Golkar and other political corruption scandals.