The Tough Job of Withdrawal
Laskar Jihad has won the sympathy of Muslims in Ambon for guaranteeing their security. Now the government must do the same.
May 14, 2002
AMBON, April 26, 2002. Heavy rain soaked the yard of the Al-Fatah Mosque that Friday afternoon. The shower did not in any way deter the thousands of Muslims outside the packed mosque for the mass gathering. They were soaked through, teeth chattering from the cold. They had been in and around the mosque in Batu Merah for three hours. And they kept on listening to the zealous speech made by Jafar Umar Thalib, commander of Laskar Jihad Ahlus-Sunnah
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