Why is Indonesia Not in the Saudi-led Sunni Coalition Against Terror?

The Saudis love coalitions. The Sunni monarchy had the Americans, the British, the French and sundry other oil importers on their side to drive Saddam’s legions out of Kuwait in 1991. Earlier this year, the Saudi military – for which read the youngest defence minister in the world and the ambitious Deputy Prime Minister, Mohamed bin Salman al-Saud – struck at the Kingdom’s Shia Houthi enemies in Yemen in yet another coalition. This included not only Saudi fighter-bombers but jets from Qatar, the Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan. 

Yemeni troops loyal to their Saudi-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi march during a parade military west of the city of Marib (Getty Images).

 But now – with all the drama of a new Hollywood franchise – the Saudis have announced their new multinational military epic against the “disease” of Islamic “terror”, starring more Muslim and would-be Muslim states than ever before assembled since the time of the Prophet. Once more, as in the Yemen adventure (already plagued by humanitarian catastrophe and credible accounts of the slaughter of civilians under Saudi air attacks), Prince Mohamed, aged 31, is leading his country.

In all seriousness, he announced that the battle of this latest “coalition” – which includes countries as mythical as “Palestine”, as corrupt as Afghanistan and as powerless as Lebanon, with bankrupt Chad and the Islamic Republic of the Comoros thrown in for good measure – would require “a very strong effort to fight”. Few spotted, however, the curious absence from the 34-strong “coalition” of Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population. 

This is very strange, since the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 mostly foreign civilians, brought al-Qaeda into Indonesia’s own “war against terror”. Surely Indonesia, with a Sunni population of more than 200 million, would have an interest in joining their fellow Sunni Muslims in this unprecedented “coalition”? Or could it be that with more than 30 Indonesian maids on Saudi Arabia’s death row after grotesquely unfair trials, the country wants an end to this injustice before committing its army to the Kingdom?

Pakistan is an interesting addition because the last time it was asked to fight for the Saudis, in the present disastrous Yemen civil war, the parliament in Islamabad rejected Saudi Arabia’s request after the Saudis insisted that only Sunni Muslim soldiers in the Pakistani army would be allowed to participate.

Saudi Arabia and another Sunni coalition have been on the offensive against tribesmen like these who are loyal to the Houthis in Yemen (Reuters).

All in all, then, a pretty vast “coalition” – most of whom are saddled with massive international debt and face constant economic collapse. So the real figures behind this extraordinary military force is not how many countries plan to participate, but how many millions – or billions – of dollars Saudi Arabia plans to pay them for their fraternal military assistance.

Along with the obvious question: just which strain of the “terror disease” does young Prince Mohamed intend to destroy? The Isis version – albeit spiritually founded on the same Sunni Wahabi purist doctrines which govern the Saudi state? The Nusrah version, which is espoused by the very same Qatar which is now part of this weird “coalition”? The Shia Houthis of Yemen, who are regarded as pro-Iranian terrorists by the Sunni Yemeni President whom the Saudis support? And what kind of relationship do the Saudis envision with the Iranians who are fighting in both Iraq and Syria against the same Isis “terror” which our favourite Saudi prince identifies as part of the “disease”? Neither Shia Iran nor Shia Iraq, needless to say, is part of the new international Muslim army.

So we know there’s a “coalition”. But who will it fight? How much will it be paid? And why is this a largely Sunni Muslim force rather than just a Muslim “coalition”?

Saudi Arabia Forms Muslim 'Anti-Terrorism' Coalition

Saudi Arabia has formed a coalition of 34 mainly Muslim countries - including powers such as Egypt and Turkey - to coordinate a fight against "terrorist organisations". The alliance was announced by Mohammed bin Salman, the country's defence minister and deputy crown prince, on Tuesday. Arab countries such as Qatar and the UAE will join the coalition, as well as Middle Eastern, Asian and African states including Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Nigeria.

Saudi security forces show their skills in handling a 'terrorist' attack as part of military exercises [Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP]

"It is time that the Islamic world take a stand, and they have done that by creating a coalition to push back and confront the terrorists and those who promote their violent ideologies," said Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi's foreign minister, speaking in Paris. When asked if the alliance would deploy troops on the ground, Jubeir said "nothing is off the table". Saudi Arabia's regional rival Iran and its allies Syria and Iraq were excluded from the alliance, despite the states sharing a common enemy in the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

Bin Salman said the states would work together to target "any terrorist organisation, not just ISIL" in countries including Iraq, Syria. Libya, Egypt, and Afghanistan. Military operations would work in accordance with local laws and in cooperation with the international community, he added. In an earlier press statement issued by the Saudi Press Agency, officials said the group would be led by Saudi Arabia, which would host a "joint operations centre to coordinate" efforts. The United States welcomed the announcement of the anti-terrorism alliance. "We look forward to learning more about what Saudi Arabia has in mind in terms of this coalition," Defence Secretary Ashton Carter told journalists in Turkey.

"But in general, it appears it is very much in line with something we've been urging for quite some time, which is greater involvement in the campaign to combat ISIL by Sunni Arab countries." Turkey said it was set to assist any time, anywhere. "Turkey is ready to contribute by all its means to all gatherings that aim to fight terrorism, no matter where or by whom they are organised," Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters in Ankara. Most of the countries in the coalition are currently involved in military operations against ISIL or have been targeted by the group.

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies have carried out air strikes against the fighters in Syria and were targeted by the group in Yemen, where they are involved in a separate war against Iran-backed Houthi rebels. In August, an ISIL suicide bomber killed 15 people, mainly special forces soldiers, at a mosque in Asir province, bordering Yemen. ISIL has also targeted Saudi Arabia's Shia minority, killing dozens in bomb attacks on mosques. Saudi authorities have carried out raids detaining hundreds of suspected ISIL members and sympathisers in response.