ULEMA SUPPORT FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM

Tasikmalaya, West Java, Aug. 20 (ANTARA) - Ulema (Islamic scholars) in Tasikmalaya have expressed their support for the government's fight against terrorism.

However, they also urged various parties, including security personnel, not to pressure 'pesantren' (Islamic boarding schools) on suspicion the schools were bases of terrorism.

"We call on the government and various other parties, including security personnel, not to terrorize or pressure 'pesantren'," KH Zenzen ZM, a representative of Tasikmalaya's ulemas said here on Wednesday after signing a joint declaration on ulemas' commitment to maintaining a conducive situation in Tasikmalaya at the Tasikmalaya police office.

The security personnel had lately intensified watch over pesantren, he said.

Zenzen, head of the Tasikmalaya 'Thaliban', said those who had thrown bombs in the country so far wanted to disintegrate the Indonesian nation, including the Muslims.

However, if the security officers pressured pesantren in the efforts to detect terrorist, it would burden the Islamic boarding school students as well as ulemas mentally, he said.

"We hope there would be not too much pressure because we also have the task to build this nation," he said before local ulemas, and police officers.

Meanwhile, Tasikmalaya Police Chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Aries Syarief Hidayat said the police had continued efforts to prevent any terrorism act.

"We have conducted representative action for terrorism prevention," he said.

Police routinely checked rented houses, vehicles and provided information to the public about the danger of terrorism, according to him.

He hoped that public would voluntarily inform the police if they have suspicion of someone.
Meanwhile, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta on Thursday visited the main base of the Indonesian Army's Special Troops Command (Kopassus) to witness a demonstration of the specialized capabilities of the command's anti-terror unit.

In the demonstration, members of the Kopassus's Terrorism Fighting Unit 81 (Satgultor 81) showed their field operation skills to cope with threats to national security, including terrorism.

President Yudhoyono, in his state address on the occasion of the 64th anniversary of Indonesian Independence last Aug. 14, stated that Indonesia must not and will not be defeated by terrorism.