Pentagon Wants to Send Troops to Indonesia

20/03/2002| IslamWeb

WASHINGTON

American Intelligence sources say dozens of Al-Qaeda operatives have found safe haven in the world's most populous Muslim nation, which consists of 17,000 islands and 34,000 miles of coastline. Some have come by air, but most have sneaked into Pakistan, then traveled several thousand miles in fishing boats from Arabian Sea ports, the sources say without giving any proof.

U.S. allies are patrolling the waters off Pakistan and Iran to catch escaping members of the terrorist network, but searches of many ships have failed to turn up Al-Qaeda members. U.S. intelligence and congressional sources say it's impossible to monitor all the sea traffic in the region.

But a Pentagon official says that plan faces resistance from President Megawati Sukarnoputri, whose hold on power is weak and who fears that the presence of U.S. forces could inflame Indonesian Muslim population, More than 90% of Indonesia's 228 million people are Muslim.

The Philippines fears that pressure for a more aggressive 'counter-terrorist' policy could destabilize Indonesia again and create more problems for the region.

Also there is real concern for its neighboring countries.