Indonesia minister stabbed by IS-linked pair

Yahoo – AFP, Agnes Anya, 10 October 2019

Indonesia's chief security minister Wiranto was rushed by helicopter to
Jakarta after a assassination attempt

Two members of an Islamic State group-linked terror network stabbed Indonesia's chief security minister Wiranto on Thursday, the intelligence head said, sending the powerful politician to emergency surgery for his wounds.

Television images showed security officers wrestling a man and woman to the ground in Pandeglang on Java island after the attack on Wiranto, who goes by one name, as he was exiting a vehicle.

The suspects were identified as 31-year-old Syahril Alamsyah and Fitri Andriana, 21 -- a married couple, according to local media.

They were members of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), an extremist group responsible for deadly suicide bombings at churches in Indonesia's second-biggest city Surabaya last year, State Intelligence Agency chief Budi Gunawan told reporters in Jakarta.

JAD is among dozens of radical groups that have pledged loyalty to the Islamic State (IS) group in Indonesia, which has long struggled with Islamist militancy.

Police said Indonesia's chief security minister Wiranto was one of several 

targets in a failed assasination plot earlier this year

Wiranto, 72 -- who police have said was one of several targets in an earlier failed assassination plot -- was rushed by helicopter to the capital, where he was treated for two knife wounds in his stomach.

A three-hour operation "went well", Indonesian cabinet secretary Pramono Anung told reporters at Gatot Subroto army hospital.

Anung said he had just seen Wiranto, whose "operation had finished and he entered the ICU."

"It is being handled very well by the hospital," he said in video posted by the detik.com news website.

President Joko Widodo earlier said Wiranto was "in surgery and I ask that all Indonesians pray that he gets well soon."

"And I ask for everyone's help in fighting radicalism and terrorism because we can only do it together," he added.

Three other victims -- a local police chief and two aides -- had non-life-threatening 

injuries from an attack that wounded Indonesia's chief security minister Wiranto

The assassination attempt comes just over a week before Widodo kicks off a second term as leader of the Southeast Asian archipelago of some 260 million people, the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation.

Three others -- a local police chief and two aides -- also suffered knife wounds in Thursday's attack but authorities said they had non-life-threatening injuries.

'Fought the police'

An eyewitness told an AFP reporter that the female attacker was dressed in garments that covered her body and face.

"When the car stopped, there were people circling around, protecting him," he said.

"But a man got into the circle and stabbed Wiranto. The woman also tried to stab him. He was arrested and the woman fought the police."

Last year, JAD staged a wave of suicide bombings by families -- including young children -- at churches in Surabaya, killing a dozen congregants.

Authorities routinely arrest suspected Islamic State group-loyal militants 

that they claim were planning bomb and other attacks

Many past attacks by Indonesian militants have been against police and other state symbols.

Authorities routinely arrest suspected IS-loyal militants that they claim were planning bomb and other attacks.

"JAD members are targeting what they call Ansharut Thagut (tyranny) and that includes senior government officials," said Muhammad Syauqillah, program director of the University of Indonesia's Terrorism Study Center.

Wiranto, the retired chief of the armed forces and a failed presidential candidate, was appointed to his post in 2016 and oversees several departments, including the foreign affairs and defence ministries.

He has faced controversy over alleged human rights violations and allegations of crimes against humanity linked to Indonesia's brutal occupation of East Timor.

In May, police said Wiranto and three other top officials were targeted in a failed assassination plot linked to deadly riots in Jakarta after Widodo's re-election victory.

A group of six people -- arrested before they could carry out the killings -- planned to murder the officials and an election pollster in a bid to plunge the country into chaos, police said at the time.

Halal ink: Muslim-majority Indonesia set for polls

Yahoo – AFP, Harry PEARL, April 15, 2019

It is Indonesia's biggest polls, with 190 million voters and 245,000 candidates
standing for the presidency, parliament and local positions (AFP Photo/Juni Kriswanto)

Dipping their fingers in halal ink to prevent double voting, Indonesians cast their ballots Wednesday in a bitterly contested presidential election, with the main rival to incumbent Joko Widodo already threatening to challenge the result over voter-fraud claims.

The Muslim-majority nation's biggest-ever polls -- with more than 190 million voters and 245,000 candidates vying for the presidency, parliament and local positions -- is largely a referendum on Widodo's infrastructure-driven bid to rev up Southeast Asia's largest economy.

But, looming in the background, two decades of democratic gains are at risk of being eroded, analysts said, as the military creeps back into civilian life under Widodo, and his trailing rival Prabowo Subianto, a former general, eyes reforms that harken back to the Suharto dictatorship.

If he loses, Subianto's camp has already warned it will challenge the results over voter-list irregularities.

"It's high stakes in this election," said Evan Laksmana, a senior researcher at the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

The election is largely a referendum on President Joko Widodo's infrastructure-

driven bid to rev up Southeast Asia's largest economy (AFP Photo/BAY ISMOYO)

"We simply don't know what (Subianto) would do if he won and we don't know if the institutional constraints in place would contain him."

Halal ink

Voting starts at 7:00 am local time Wednesday (2200 GMT Tuesday) in easternmost Papua and ends at 1:00 pm at the other end of the country in Sumatra.

Ballots will be cast at more than 800,000 polling booths across the volcano-dotted country, from the tip of jungle-clad Sumatra and heavily populated Java island to beach paradise Bali and far-flung Sumbawa.

Voters will punch holes in ballots -- to make clear their candidate choice -- and then dip a finger in Muslim-approved halal ink, a measure to prevent double-voting in a graft-riddled country where ballot buying is rife.

A series of so-called "quick counts" are expected to give a reliable indication of the presidential winner later Wednesday. Official results are not expected until May.

Most polls show the 57-year-old Widodo holding a double-digit lead over Subianto, 67, setting up a repeat of their 2014 contest, which Widodo won despite an unsuccessful court challenge over his narrow victory.

Voters dip their finger in halal ink after casting their ballot, like this Indonesian 

woman shown after advance overseas voting in Malaysia (AFP Photo/Mohd RASFAN)

The race has been punctuated by bitter mudslinging between the two camps, religion-driven identity politics and a slew of fake news online that threatens to sway millions of undecided voters.

'Pragmatism over principle'

Widodo campaigned on his ambitious drive to build roads, airports and other infrastructure, including Jakarta's first mass-rapid-transit system.

But his rights record has been criticised owing to an uptick in discriminatory attacks on religious and other minorities, including a small LGBT community, as Islamic hardliners become more vocal in public life.

"(Widodo) has chosen pragmatism over principle on issues of Islamism and pluralism," said Dave McRae, a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne's Asia Institute.

Widodo, a practising Muslim, blunted criticism that he was anti-Islam by appointing influential cleric Ma'ruf Amin as his running mate.

But victory for Widodo and Amin -- known for his disparaging views towards minorities -- could be the latest knock to Indonesia's reputation for moderate Islam.

Former general Prabowo Subianto has run on a fiery nationalist ticket, courting 

Islamic hardliners and promising to boost military spending (AFP Photo/Juni Kriswanto)

"There is a longstanding track record of very conservative views," Kevin O'Rourke, an Indonesia-based political risk analyst, said of Amin.

"It's inevitable that will affect policy making."

Subianto -- joined by running mate Sandiaga Uno, a 49-year-old wealthy financier -- has run on a fiery nationalist ticket.

He courted Islamic hardliners, promised a boost to military and defence spending and, taking a page from US President Donald Trump, vowed to put "Indonesia first" as he pledged to review billions of dollars in Chinese investment.

Subianto's presidential ambitions have long been dogged by strong ties to the Suharto family and a chequered past.

He ordered the abduction of democracy activists as the authoritarian regime collapsed in 1998, and was accused of committing atrocities in East Timor.

Ballots will be cast at more than 800,000 polling booths across the volcano-dotted 

country, including tsunami-ravaged Palu on the island of Sulawesi (AFP Photo/

OLAGONDRONK)

'Low probability, high impact'

Widodo's own cabinet is stuffed with Suharto-era figures, and he raised eyebrows by agreeing to give civilian government jobs to military brass.

But "there is no grand design for Jokowi to bring back military rule", Laksmana said.

Subianto, however, is a military man keen to roll back reforms that ushered in direct presidential elections, analysts said.

That has raised questions about what an upset victory for the retired general could mean for a system that is supported by most Indonesians.

"Democracy itself would be very much at stake," O'Rourke said.

"This is a low probability scenario, but one with very high impact."

Many Indonesians just want a peaceful power transition -- regardless of the winner.

"I hope there's no hostility," said 53-year-old Untung Sri Rejeki.

"No matter who becomes our next president."

Indonesia's Aceh whips unmarried couples after hotel raid

Yahoo – AFP, 4 March 2019

Twelve people were flogged in Aceh province for being found with a member of
the opposite sex who wasn't a relation or having intimate relations outside marriage

Six couples were publicly whipped in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province Monday for relations outside marriage, with at least two women unable to walk after the painful punishment.

Flogging is common for a range of offences in the region at the tip of Sumatra island, including gambling, drinking alcohol, and having gay sex.

It is the only province in the world's biggest Muslim-majority country that imposes Islamic law.

The twelve people whipped Monday were arrested late last year during a raid on a hotel in the province's capital Banda Aceh.

Four people were each flogged seven times after being found with a member of the opposite sex who wasn't a relation.

Flogging is common for many offences in Aceh, including gambling, 

drinking alcohol, and having gay sex

The others -- who were caught in more compromising positions -- received between 17-25 strokes for having intimate relations outside of marriage, an official said.

All 12 also served several months in prison before the public punishment.

Some women cried out in pain as a masked sharia officer lashed them, and at least two had to be carried from the scene by sharia officers.

Dozens of spectators and journalists watched quietly. Some winced occasionally after the blows, while others used smartphones and tablets to film the spectacle.

"This law is designed to have a deterrent effect, not only for the offenders but for the spectators who watch the caning," said the head of the local public order agency, Marwan, who like many Indonesian goes by one name.

Rights groups have slammed public caning as cruel, and Indonesia's President 

Joko Widodo has called for it to end

He added: "The pain of being flogged is not that bad, the embarrassment is worse."

Rights groups have slammed public caning as cruel, and Indonesia's President Joko Widodo has called for it to end.

But the practice has wide support among Aceh's mostly Muslim population -- around 98 percent of its five million residents practise Islam.

Aceh adopted religious law after it was granted special autonomy in 2001, an attempt by the central government to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.

In December, two men caught having sex with underage girls were whipped 100 times each.

In the only Indonesian province that imposes Islamic law, six couples were publicly whipped for relations outside marriagehttps://t.co/KshjjLTGZb pic.twitter.com/xm11PxnBjJ

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 4 maart 2019

Grand imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar calls polygamy an 'injustice'

Yahoo – AFP, March 2, 2019

Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, grand imam of Egypt's famed Al-Azhar institution, said
polygamy was the result of a "lack of understanding of the Koran" (AFP Photo/
Vincenzo PINTO)

Cairo (AFP) - The grand imam of Egypt's famed Al-Azhar institution, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, has described polygamy as an "injustice" for women.

"Polygamy is often an injustice to women and children," said the influential cleric, in quotes published on Twitter late Friday by Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's most prestigious seat of learning.

The practice is the result of "a lack of understanding of the Koran and the tradition of the Prophet," he added.

Tayeb also addressed the issue in a weekly Friday television show, telling viewers: "Those who say that marriage must be polygamous are all wrong".

He added the Koran says that in order for a Muslim man to have multiple wives, he "must obey conditions of fairness -- and if there is not fairness it is forbidden to have multiple wives".

After the grand imam's comments sparked fervent debate on social media, Al-Azhar on Saturday clarified that he did not call for polygamy to be banned.

In his Friday comments, Tayeb called more broadly for the way women's issues are addressed to be revamped.

"Women represent half of society, if we don't care for them it's like we are walking on one foot only," he said in the remarks published on Twitter.

The grand imam's approach was welcomed by Egypt's National Council for Women.

"The Muslim religion honours women -- it brought justice and numerous rights which didn't exist before," said the Council's president Maya Morsi.

Twin bomb attacks on Philippine church kills at least 18

Yahoo – AFP, Nickee Butlangan, January 27, 2019

It is one of the deadliest bomb attacks to strike the southern Philippines in 

years (AFP Photo/NICKEE BUTLANGAN)

Jolo (Philippines) (AFP) - At least 18 people were killed Sunday when a double bomb attack hit a Catholic church on a southern Philippine island that is a stronghold of Islamist militants, the military said, days after voters backed expanded Muslim self-rule in the region.

In an attack claimed by the Islamic State group, a powerful first blast shattered pews, broke windows and left bodies strewn inside the cathedral in the Catholic-majority nation's restive south as mass was being celebrated.

Moments later a second explosion outside killed troops who were rushing to help the wounded in the smoking and heavily damaged church on Jolo, which is overwhelmingly Muslim.

It is one of the deadliest bomb attacks to strike the insurgency-plagued southern Philippines in years, and shows militants in the region are still a threat despite recent steps toward peace, experts said.

The bloodshed came less than a week after voters' decisive approval of giving Muslims in the south more control over their own affairs, which sparked hopes of quelling long-time separatist violence.

Manila swiftly vowed to hunt down the attackers, but no group has claimed the 

bombing (AFP Photo/NICKEE BUTLANGAN)

"Just because the (referendum) has passed does not mean that things are going to get better overnight," said Gregory Wyatt, director for business intelligence at PSA Philippines Consultancy.

"There are still militant groups that will continue to be active and pose a security threat," he told AFP.

Pope Francis, speaking in Panama, expressed his "strongest reprobation" for the violence. Once again, he said, "the Christian community has been plunged into mourning."

Bishop Angelito Lampon, who previously served in Jolo, said Sunday's attack may be the worst, but was certainly not the first on the church.

"In my 20 years there from 1998 to last week, there were seven hand grenades lobbed into our cathedral," he told AFP. "Fortunately there was just a little damage and no casualties."

IS group claim

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, issuing a formal communique saying two suicide bombers had detonated explosive belts, according to the SITE Intelligence Group which monitors jihadist activities.

But a military report said the second bomb was left in the utility box of a motorcycle in the parking area outside the church.

Authorities said the notorious Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group could be

behind the blasts (AFP Photo/NICKEE BUTLANGAN)

Manila swiftly vowed to hunt down the attackers.

"We will pursue to the ends of the earth the ruthless perpetrators behind this dastardly crime," presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement. "The law will give them no mercy."

Five soldiers, a member of the coast guard and 12 civilians were among the dead while 83 other people were wounded, said regional military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Besana.

The regional police chief Graciano Mijares put the toll slightly higher at 20 dead, lower than a figure of 27 he gave initially.

Pro-IS militants are among multiple armed networks based in the strife-torn region of Mindanao.

President Rodrigo Duterte put the southern Philippines under martial rule after pro-IS militants seized the southern city of Marawi in May 2017.

A bombing the previous year that ripped through a bustling night market in Duterte's hometown left 15 dead, and was blamed on the Maute gang of Islamist militants that pledged allegiance to IS.

The door, pews and glass windows of Mount Carmel Cathedral were blown off, 

military photos showed (AFP Photo/HANDOUT)

Before the IS jihadists' claim emerged, Besana said the notorious Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group could be behind the blasts, but added officials were "not discounting the possibility that there are other perpetrators".

The remote island of Jolo is a base of the Abu Sayyaf, which is blamed for deadly bombings, including an attack on a ferry in Manila Bay in 2004 that claimed 116 lives in the country's deadliest terror assault.

'Peace must prevail'

Neither the hardline factions aligned with IS nor the Abu Sayyaf were part of the decades-long peace process with the nation's largest separatist group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, that culminated January 21 with the resounding approval of a new Muslim led-region in the south.

Rebels and the government in Manila hope the new so-called Bangsamoro area will finally draw the investment needed to pull the region from the brutal poverty that makes it a hotspot for radical recruitment.

Despite Sulu province -- which includes Jolo -- voting against creating the new region, the area will still be part of the Bangsamoro.

The timing of Sunday's bombs raised questions on whether the attack was meant to derail the peace process.

National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon said "extremist criminals" plotted the bombings.

"We will not allow them to spoil the preference of the people for peace," Esperon said. "Peace must prevail over war."

Saudi music festival spotlights pre-Islamic heritage

Yahoo – AFP, Anuj Chopra, 20 January 2019

The Qasr al-Farid tomb (The Lonely Castle) carved into rose-coloured sandstone in
Madain Saleh, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Saudi Arabia's Al-Ula governorate

Bathed in light, musicians belt out melodies among pre-Islamic desert ruins in northwestern Saudi Arabia, a heritage trove at the centre of efforts to put the reclusive kingdom on the tourism map.

Hosted by the Al-Ula governorate -- where Nabatean tombs and art are chiseled into caramel-hued rock -- "Winter at Tantora" is the latest music carnival in the Islamic kingdom, where such events were unheard of just two years ago.

Spread over eight weekends until February 9, the main events are hosted in an auditorium made of mirrored glass that has drawn international artists, from Lebanese singer Majida El Roumi to French classical violinist Renaud Capucon.

And it shines a spotlight on a long-isolated area seen widely as an open-air museum.

"Saudi Arabia is turning a new page," said Zainab al-Kadadi, a Riyadh-based banker.

The 29-year-old attended a musical weekend that also included sand dune bashing -- an adventure sport that involves driving across challenging desert landscapes -- and a tour of an Ottoman-era train station.

The new purpose-built Maraya (Arabic for "Mirror") concert hall hosting the first 

"Winter at Tantora" music carnival among the UNESCO World Heritage listed ruins

The festival is seen as a soft opening of Al-Ula, an area roughly the size of Belgium that is being touted as the centrepiece of Saudi attractions, as the conservative petro-state prepares to open up to international tourists.

Building a tourism industry from scratch is at the heart of a government plan to prepare the Arab world's biggest economy for a post-oil era, an ambition fraught with challenges.

The austere kingdom, which forbids alcohol and has a strict social code, is already seen by many as a hard sell for tourists.

Recent events that drew international censure -- notably the gruesome murder last year of critic Jamal Khashoggi and a sweeping crackdown on dissent -- appear to have made the challenge more acute.

"Saudi has great tourism potential, but after what happened it's hard to come here and say 'Everything is wow, everything is amazing'," said a Westerner who was among a group of global social media influencers invited by the kingdom for an all-expenses-paid trip to Al-Ula.

"When I went to collect my (Saudi) visa, my friends joked: 'Hope you return alive!'."

The October 2 murder of Khashoggi, whose body was dismembered by a team of Saudi agents inside the kingdom's Istanbul consulate, triggered global outrage.

French solo violinist Renaud Capucon performs with pianists during the music carnival

Kingdom of 'fun'

If Al-Ula were in another country, it would be an easier sell, others in the group suggested.

"The biggest obstacle is stereotypes," said Kyle Mijlof, a 30-year-old travel photographer from Cape Town.

A liberalisation drive by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, has brought new cinemas, concerts and sporting extravaganzas.

While it is yet to offer tourist visas, the country fast-tracked electronic permits for visitors to attend the festival.

The kingdom organised a similar process in December for a motor sports event in Riyadh, where performances by artists like Enrique Iglesias and David Guetta -- and thumping after-parties -- were on offer.

"We live in a Saudi Arabia where by day children may be told that music is forbidden but by night they are taken to music concerts," said a Saudi artist, highlighting a social dichotomy.

A liberalisation drive by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has brought new

cinemas, concerts and sporting extravaganzas

In a country where two-thirds of the population is under 30, amping up entertainment that allows citizens to have fun aims ostensibly to blunt public frustration over an economic downturn and soaring youth unemployment.

"MBS may have borrowed from the playbook of the ancient Roman empire, which hoped 'panem et circenses' –- bread and games -– would be enough to make citizens acquiescent," said Cinzia Bianco, a Middle East analyst at Gulf State Analytics.

"The belief is that if they are engrossed in worries about making money and having fun, they will have no interest in politics and dissent."

'Changing the narrative'

Preparations for the Al-Ula festival "accelerated" after the Khashoggi crisis erupted, as authorities have been keen to turn the page on his murder, a Western consultant close to the organisers told AFP on condition of anonymity.

An official close to the organisers denied that it was a diversionary tactic, saying planning for the festival was in the works well before the murder.

A tourist looks at a formation known as "Elephant rock"

Saudi Arabia is seeking to preserve heritage sites that predate Prophet Mohammed's life in the seventh century.

The sites have long been neglected or vandalised, because glorifying them is considered blasphemous by religious conservatives.

Indonesian men caned for gay sex before jeering crowd

Yahoo – AFP, Nurdin Hasan, May 23, 2017

The two men received 83 strokes of the cane each after being found guilty
of breaking sharia rules in conservative Aceh province (AFP Photo/
CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN)

Banda Aceh (Indonesia) (AFP) - Two Indonesian men were caned Tuesday in front of a jeering crowd as a punishment for gay sex, in a first for the Muslim-majority country where there is mounting hostility towards the small LGBT community.

The pair received 83 strokes of the cane each after being found guilty of breaking sharia rules in conservative Aceh province, the only part of Indonesia that implements Islamic law.

The men, aged 20 and 23, were led onto a raised stage outside a mosque in front of a crowd of thousands, who jeered and booed loudly.

The pair, whose identities have not been revealed, were dressed in white robes and bowed their heads as they were whipped by officials wearing brown cloaks and masks with eye slits.

One of the men grimaced occasionally and the other showed little emotion.

Before the caning, Abdul Gani Isa, a member of the Acehnese clerics' council, told the crowd the caning was "a lesson for the public".

"Lessons carried out with our sharia law are conducted in a very thoughtful way, are educational and do not violate human rights," he said.

Their sentences, which were carried out in the provincial capital Banda Aceh, were reduced by two strokes of the cane due to time already served in detention.

The caning took place in conservative Aceh province but gay sex is not illegal 

elsewhere in Indonesia, which has the world's biggest Muslim population

(AFP Photo/CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN)

The gay men were caught together in March by vigilantes who burst into the house where they were staying.

Shaky phone footage of the raid that circulated online showed the vigilantes kicking, slapping and insulting the men, with one of them slumped naked on the ground during the attack.

Anti-gay sentiment

Public caning has long been common for offences such as gambling and drinking in Aceh, which was given the right to implement sharia law in 2001 as part of a deal with the central government aimed at ending an insurgency.

The punishment is carried out with thin rattan canes, with people still clothed while the strokes are delivered. It causes pain but does not normally inflict permanent damage, and the canings are as much about public humiliation as hurting those guilty of breaking sharia law.

Tuesday's caning was the first time such a punishment has been meted out for gay sex since a sharia regulation came into force two years ago banning the practice.

Eight other men and women were publicly caned on the same day after being found guilty of breaking sharia laws.

Gay sex is not illegal elsewhere in Indonesia, which has the world's biggest Muslim population.

While rights groups have repeatedly expressed alarm over the strengthening of sharia law in Aceh, many of those living in the staunchly Islamic province support the rules.

The two men were sentenced after a trial at a sharia court in Banda Aceh last 

week (AFP Photo/CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN)

Zubaidah, a 20-year-old female college student who watched the couple being punished, told AFP it was the first time she had witnessed a caning.

"I wanted to watch it so it could serve as a lesson for me not to commit any act that violates Islamic teaching," said the student, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

"Homosexuality is a curable disease, it is very forbidden in Islam."

Amnesty International was among groups that had urged authorities not to flog the men, decrying the use of caning as a "cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment".

There has been a growing backlash against Indonesia's small lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community over the past year, with ministers, hardliners and influential Islamic groups lining up to publicly denounce homosexuality.

The caning comes just two days after police in Jakarta detained 141 men including several foreigners for allegedly taking part in a gay sex party in a sauna.

Although homosexuality is not illegal outside Aceh, police said 10 of those arrested at the party could be charged under the country's tough anti-pornography laws.

The backlash against the homosexual community began in early 2016, and activists believe it was triggered by widespread media coverage of a decision in the United States to legalise same-sex marriage.