Dessy Sagita & Anita Rachman – Lawmakers and activists said a news report aired on Tuesday alleging senior retired generals had been supporting hard-line groups to incite religious violence and undermine the government was not surprising.

In the report by Al Jazeera, correspondent Step Vaessen claimed the generals were using radical groups in an effort to topple President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono "because they feel he is too weak and too reformist."

Al Jazeera acknowledged that while the claims of high-level support were nothing new, it had now be confirmed for the first time by the leader of one of the groups. "This revelation shows that behind religious violence, a dangerous political power play is happening," the report said.

Chep Hernawan, leader of the Islamic Reform Movement (Garis), told Al Jazeera that "the generals are fed up with the president's lies." He said the generals had earlier attempted to use a number of issues, including corruption, to foment a backlash against Yudhoyono, "but they failed."

"Now they are using the Ahmadiyah issue and it works," he said, referring to the minority Muslim sect that has been the target of recent attacks by hard-liners and bans by several local governments.

Chep told the cable news channel that he was approached by a retired three-star general in January. "He told me that we should keep fighting a jihad, we should not back down so the liar can be toppled," he said.

In December, the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace named both Garis and the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) among seven radical Muslim groups working behind the scenes to shore up support among grassroots clerics and political heavyweights.

Setara's Bonar Tigor Naipospos said rumors about the hard-liners' high-level backing had been around for quite some time.

"It is possible these generals are using radicals like the FPI to pursue their own political agenda, which is revolution," he said. "Which is why some FPI leaders have been bragging about being supported by some powerful military figures."

Ahmad Mubarok, a member of the advisory board for Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, said it had always thought there were political forces behind the rise in communal violence. "I am not surprised," he said. "This nation is being held hostage for the sake of the interests of a small number of people."

Abdul Kadir Karding, a lawmaker from the Islam-based National Awakening Party (PKB) and chairman of the House of Representatives' Commission VIII, which oversees religious affairs, said a variety of theories had been put forward with regard to the rise in religious attacks, including influence from those "disappointed with the government."

"That is why I have always urged law enforcers to get to the root of the problem," he said. "What I mean is, they should go arrest the instigators."

The Al Jazeera report said that while the chances of toppling Yudhoyono were "slim," it would be difficult to counteract such well-connected antagonists. "With former generals supporting hard-line groups, the battle to end religious violence seems hard to win."