Kuala Lumpur – Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said here yesterday that his countrymen were laughing at what they saw as overblown fears of Islamic terrorism in the nation with the world's largest Muslim population.
"Each country has its own system and mechanism to deal with it," he told reporters after a meeting of the Malaysia-Indonesia Joint Commission during which both sides signed an agreement to cooperate against terrorism.
"We continue in our way to deal with these issues of terrorism – internally, bilaterally, regionally and globally,' he said as he rejected international criticism that Jakarta was not doing enough to act against militants.
Indonesia's problems were mainly from "small groups with radical leanings" which enjoyed little mass support, he said. "When the outside world worries and looks at this ... largest Muslim nation facing radicalism, we laugh at it," he said. "We don't feel threatened ourselves by these small groups, because they do not enjoy wide support from our community."
He singled out Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew for commenting last week that terrorist leaders were at large in Indonesia. "First, his remark is unnecessary. It only provokes sentiments which may only hamper development of good bilateral relations between Indonesia and Singapore," he said. "Second, Lee's remarks are not substantiated allegations."
He added that Indonesia would send police teams to Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines to obtain 'substantive information' on the involvement of Indonesian militants. "We are not sitting passively," he said, but then added, "We haven't got sufficient information for us to act." He also said that unlike Singapore and Malaysia, Indonesia did not have an Internal Security Act which provided for indefinite detention of suspects without trial.
Indonesian National Assembly Speaker Amien Rais also struck a similar tone in Jakarta yesterday, accusing Mr Lee of meddling and said Singapore should apologise if it could not produce evidence to support the Senior Minister's remarks. "Lee has acted like the mouthpiece of President George Bush," he said. "He has intervened in other people's internal affairs. Singapore has to be more understanding and respectful towards its neighbours."
The latest comments came a day after security czar Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that if there was intelligence data, evidence and witnesses to support the notion that terrorist leaders were in Indonesia, "we are more than happy to cooperate". "If there is a tangible thing to be done, instead of having a debate in the media we had all better act cooperatively to address the real issue," he added.
He said the state intelligence body was looking into "whether these people do actually exist, and where their current locations are". "The government will respond promptly and accurately. I should remind you that in managing intercountry, or bilateral problems we should not get overly emotional," he said. He added that if these problems touched on the sensitive areas of a nation's dignity, sovereignty and the truth, Indonesia would not hesitate to deliver a strong statement.
At the talks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said his country was "satisfied" with help from Indonesia, but there was a "need to strengthen this cooperation".
Indonesia is facing pressure from the US and South-east Asian neighbours to crack down on militants. Dozens of suspected militants arrested recently are thought to have ties to Indonesia-based cleric Abu Bakar Bashir – said to be the leader of Jemaah Islamiah, which has links to the Al-Qaeda network.