A hardline Islamic group yesterday took aim at an Australian Catholic charity planning to set up an orphanage in tsunami-ravaged Aceh, warning it not to try to convert Muslim children.
As Prime Minister John Howard defended Australia's decision to keep tabs on how Indonesia manages the nation's $1 billion in aid, signs emerged of simmering religious tensions in devastated Aceh province.
Father Chris Riley, who heads the Catholic charity Youth off the Streets, has arrived there and plans to set up an orphanage to house some of the estimated 35,000 Acehnese children with dead or missing parents.
But radical Islamic Defenders Front chief Hilmy Bakar Almascaty yesterday warned him to stick purely to humanitarian work in Aceh – the only Indonesian province to have fully implemented Muslim sharia law.
"It will be very dangerous if they want to convert children," he said.
"Humanitarian aid is welcome and if they want to support the system or support the construction of new buildings, there will be no problem.
"But the program should be run by Acehnese."
Hilmy's organisation, known as FPI, is better known for smashing up bars and nightclubs in Jakarta and elsewhere which members deem to be un-Islamic.
FPI is now bringing thousands of volunteers to help in the reconstruction of Aceh and to guard against foreign influence from the thousands of foreign military and aid workers now delivering humanitarian assistance to the region.
Hilmy said Aceh was a "special place" for Indonesian Muslims because of its sharia status.
"We plan a social engineering project here after this disaster, based around the Islamic religion," he said.
World Vision Australia chief executive Tim Costello said warnings like the one aimed at Father Riley would not deter his Christian organisation from its mission to deliver aid to Aceh.
"That warning is not a concern to us," chief executive Tim Costello said.
"There are no doubt other Christian aid agencies that do have an explicit evangelism agenda, but certainly not World Vision. "
Catholic aid agency Caritas Australia said there were no strings attached to its aid program in Aceh.
"I think it's really important in a situation such as the crisis affecting the people of Aceh that they know the aid comes with no strings attached," director Jack de Groot said.