http://www.smh.com.au/world/battle-won-but-war-continues-yudhoyono-20090918-fvdk.html
Battle won but war continues: Yudhoyono TOM ALLARD September 19, 2009 INDONESIA'S President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has vowed to tackle the ''ignorance and poverty'' that underpins terrorism as he cautioned that the death of the terrorist leader Noordin Mohammed Top did not mean the scourge of violent extremism was finished. As militants on jihadist websites quickly declared Noordin and the three others who died alongside him martyrs, the vast majority of Indonesians were delighted by the demise of the man who has terrorised the country for seven years. Noordin's death occurred a day before Indonesians celebrated one of Islam's most important annual holidays, Idul Fitri, also known as the ''Day of Victory''. But Dr Yudhoyono was not declaring outright victory, even if the terrorist threat had been ''seriously reduced'' with Noordin's death. ''Paralysing [Noordin's cell] just means we have won a battle, but, by prevention, we will win the war against terrorism,'' he said. ''We have to save our country, our people, our community and our young generation from the temptation to involve themselves in terrorism.'' He said this was cause for an acceleration of spending on education, both formal and religious. Indonesian counterterrorism officials have said that the country is planning a campaign to stop radical Islamic preachers advocating a distorted view of Islam that says mass casualty attacks on civilians are a justified response to the perceived injustices faced by Muslims. The Ministry of Religion is working with Islamic scholars to develop a religious rebuttal of interpretations of verses in the Koran used to justify terrorism. Noordin was blamed for masterminding a string of attacks across Indonesia, including the bombings of the J.W. Marriott Hotel in 2003, the Australian embassy in 2004, in Bali in 2005 and July's twin hotel blasts in Jakarta. He also attended early planning meetings that led to the first Bali bombings in 2002. He had evaded capture on numerous occasions but police said on Thursday that fingerprint analysis showed he was one of the four men killed in a raid on a house near the Central Java city of Solo. More accurate DNA analysis is expected to be released today.. Ordinary Indonesians celebrated the demise of Noordin, who was born in Malaysia but came to Indonesia to wage his violent jihad. ''This is a sweet gift for Indonesia,'' said Denys Cahyadi, who runs a small business-card shop. ''Syukur Alhamdulillah [thanks and praise be to God], as the Muslims say it,'' said Nyoman Ayu. ''We, the Balinese, are relieved he's dead.'' But the radical website Muslim Daily News said the four dead militants would ''reach their glorious space with Allah as syuhada [martyrs] on this holy month''. A comment posted on the website inilah.com called for revenge. ''We will avenge them,'' it said. ''Jihad is not a game of chess, King is dead and game over. The Emir [Noordin] is dead. Jihad continues. Winning and losing will alternate.'' Tom Allard is the Herald's correspondent in Jakarta [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
