Indonesian Muslim extremist group announces disbandment

BALI, Indonesia -- Indonesia's most violent Muslim extremist group announced Tuesday that it was disbanding, in what appeared to be the first sign that the government is cracking down on Islamic extremism following the deadly bombing of a Bali nightclub.\nThe announcement came as Indonesian officials interrogated a security guard and another man about the nightclub bombing, which killed nearly 200 people, and said traces of C-4 plastic explosive were found at the scene. Also, the accused ringleader of a separate extremist network, Jemaah Islamiyah, said he would submit to police questioning.\nIn Washington, U.S. intelligence officials said Tuesday they have no conclusive evidence of who committed the bombing. However, the sophistication of Saturday night's attack, notably the detonation of more than one explosion simultaneously, points to a strike by Jemaah Islamiyah, possibly with the aid of al Qaeda, officials said.\nAmerican officials describe Jemaah Islamiyah as a surrogate of al Qaeda in Southeast Asia.\nThe group that is disbanding, Laskar Jihad, has deep ties to Indonesia's military and has waged sectarian warfare against Christians on the outlying island of Ambon. But in recent months, as pressure grew on Indonesia from the West to take action against militants, the organization's activities have become an increasing embarrassment for the authorities in Jakarta.\nAlthough Laskar Jihad has not been linked to the nightclub attack, its dissolution may be the first sign Indonesia is responding to the demand for action from the United States, Australia and other countries.\nDisbanding the organization is one of the more politically simple tasks the government could take against extremism, given its military's implicit approval. It was unclear whether some die-hard members might go underground and continue to wage violence.\nArbi Sanit, a political commentator, said the militants remained a potential threat.\n"If they really return home, then it is good because at least one of the armed groups will be gone," he said. "But if they leave Ambon just to move to other trouble spots, that would be very dangerous."\nAchmad Michdan, legal adviser to Laskar Jihad, told reporters in Jakarta, the capital, that the group was disbanding.\nHe insisted the move was unconnected to the bombing and was rooted in theological issues.\n"It has nothing to do with the bombs. There was no pressure on us from the military," he said.\nEfforts to contact Jafar Umar Thalib, the group's leader in Ambon, about 1,600 miles east of Jakarta, were unsuccessful. Laskar Jihad is blamed for the slaughter of thousands of Christians in a sectarian conflict in the Maluku islands.\nPolice in Ambon confirmed that about 500 members of the paramilitary group boarded a ship for Indonesia's main island of Java on Tuesday, after driving through Ambon in a huge convoy. They were accompanied by about 200 members of their families.\n"They left on their own initiative. The government did not interfere," said Maluku Police Chief, Brig. Gen. Sunarko Danu Ardianto.\nAnother 1,500 fighters will depart by the end of the week, said Jamal, a Laskar Jihad official in Ambon who like many Indonesians uses only one name.\nLaskar Jihad, or Holy War Soldiers, was founded in early 2000. At the time, a top reformist general accused hardline army commanders loyal to former dictator Suharto of creating it to disrupt democratic reforms and prevent civilian control over the military.\nArmy leadership denied that, but refused an order by the then-president to act against the group, whose members were allowed to proceed to Maluku where a small-scale religious conflict had erupted in 1999 between Muslims and Christians.\nEventually, about 3,000 Laskar Jihad militiamen were brought into the archipelago. They are accused of mounting attacks on unprotected Christian villages, and were seen cooperating with the army units in attacks on Christian neighborhoods in Ambon.\nAs many as 9,000 people died in the conflict. A cease-fire has been in place in the province since February.