Russian and Ukrainian envoys to Indonesia are courting the country’s largest moderate Islamic group Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), in acknowledgement of its political influence on leaders of Southeast Asia’s largest economy. Last week, Ukraine’s envoy met with the recently elected NU leader Yahya Staquf. The next day, the Russian envoy showed up at NU’s headquarters in Jakarta. After the meeting, Staquf.
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): A well-regarded Islamic scholar hailed as a "symbol of the new generation" has been elected chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia's influential Muslim group and the world's largest Islamic organisation.
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‘US still the target’: Indonesia’s arrest of Jemaah Islamiah terrorist leader reveals thousands of recruits Amy Chew in Kuala Lumpur Members of Indonesian counterterrorism task force Detachment 88 during an anti-terror exercise at the Borobodur hotel in Jakarta. The unit recently arrested the leader of IS, Ustad Arif. Photo: AFP
About two months ago, Indonesian counterterrorism task force Detachment 88 arrested a little-known cleric named Ustad Arif, according to a senior security source.
The 54-year-old from Klaten, Central Java, turned out to be the leader of Jemaah Islamiah (JI), the Southeast Asia branch of al-Qaeda.
JI was behind all the deadly terror attacks in Indonesia from 1998 to 2010 before it was weakened by Indonesian counterterrorism police, who arrested hundreds of its members during the period, including several leaders.