Indonesia to host reconciliation meeting for terrorists, survivors
A competitor jumping through fire at the Tough Guy Mudathon in Perton, Britain, on Sunday. The event, which started in 1987, raises money for charity and challenges thousands of international competitors with a crosscountry run followed by an assault course comprising 20 obstacles, including water, fire and tunnels.
KYLIE JENNER, American reality T TV star JAKARTA: A landmark reconciliation meeting between survivors of terror attacks and the perpetrators will be held in Indonesia this month, the government said yesterday.
The meeting, announced by Chief Security Minister Wiranto, is being touted as a first for Muslim-majority Indonesia.
“This meeting is quite unique. It has not happened before,” Wiranto said here.
People incarcerated for terrorrelated offences and ex-convicts would get the chance to apologise to survivors at the meeting, he said.
The government did not release the names of the militants or the survivors, and it was not clear for how long or where the two groups would meet.
It also did not say if any family members of those killed in such attacks would participate.
Indonesia has suffered a string of extremist attacks in the past 16 years, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.
A crackdown has weakened the most dangerous networks, but fears have grown of a resurgence in militancy after hundreds of Indonesians flocked to the Middle East and the Philippines in recent years to join the Islamic State.
The spectre of a flood of battlehardened militants returning to Indonesia has driven a push for programmes aimed at deradicalising hardliners.
Local media have reported that 150 convicted militants will be involved in the reconciliation meeting. It was not clear how many survivors would attend. AFP