Bashir Urges Indonesian Muslims to ‘Imitate’ Libyan Attack

Jakarta Globe

Convicted terrorist Abu Bakar Bashir called on Indonesia’s Muslims to follow the lead of Libyan militants and wage violent protests against the US Embassy in Jakarta.

“What happened in Libya can be imitated,” Bashir told the Islamic Indonesian news site voa-islam.com from his jail cell. “If it is defaming God and the Prophet [Muhammad], the punishment should be death. [There are] no other considerations.”

Bashir’s comments came days after hard-line Islamist groups clashed with police outside the US Embassy during a previously peaceful protest against the “Innocence of Muslims,” an anti-Islam film that depicts the Prophet Muhammad as an amoral womanizer.

Four members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) were detained during the well-documented attack, and then subsequently released the next day due to a lack of evidence.

The film’s trailer, which was posted to YouTube, allegedly sparked violent protests in Libya that ended with the death of US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Bashir told the reporter that Muslims should learn to forgive minor transgressions, but that those who insult the Prophet should be sentenced to death.

“We should hold our anger if we’re being insulted,” he said. “We should forgive. But if the one that was defamed is Allah, the Prophet or his Shariah, death is the punishment. The Prophet is much more precious than our souls.”

He urged Indonesian Muslims to force the government to shutdown the US Embassy.