Indonesia appoints ‘incisive’ Muslim leader in attempt to combat extremism

The Surabaya Pentecostal Church's front yard and remainders of the gate's canopy after the bomb attack on 13 May in which five people died. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
The appointment of one of the Muslim world’s “most incisive and outspoken reformers” to Indonesia’s Presidential Advisory Council signals a shift in how Indonesia is trying to combat extremism, according to religious freedom professor Paul Marshall. In May Indonesia was rocked by a number of suicide bombings orchestrated by Jamaah . . . Read More

Indonesia: How women and children became agents of terror

Women pray in Blue Mosque in Indonesia's capital Jakarta. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
Terrorism in Indonesia is now carried out by “entire families, including mothers and children”, one local police chief noted, three weeks on from the suicide blasts on three churches and a police station that claimed 27 lives, including 13 attackers. In raids following the series of bomb attacks, Jakarta security . . . Read More

Indonesia approves new anti-terrorism law after Surabaya church bombings

The Surabaya Pentecostal Church's front yard and remainders of the gate's canopy after the bomb attack on 13 May in which five people died. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
Indonesia’s government has approved a new anti-terrorism law that gives police more freedom to carry out preventative arrests and detain terrorist suspects for longer, as reported by AsiaNews. The proposed changes, which had been under discussion for two years, were approved by parliament on Friday, 25 May, just ten days after the . . . Read More