On culture and plurality: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (second right) and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono (right) meet with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is accompanied by his wife Yoo Soon-taek, before they attend the opening of the 2014 Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations in Nusa Dua, Bali, Friday
(JP/Zul Trio Anggono)
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday slammed 'brutal killings of civilians' by jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) organization, also known as ISIL, in northern Iraq, saying the Sunni radical group was tearing apart whole communities.
The jihadists have taken control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria, and have declared a 'caliphate' in the territory they control straddling the two countries.
The UN human rights chief earlier this week accused the group of 'ethnic and religious cleansing' in Iraq, saying their reign of terror against non-Arab ethnic groups and non-Sunni Muslims involved targeted killings, forced conversions and abductions.
Ban added his voice to the growing concerns, telling a United Nations conference on the Indonesian resort island of Bali: 'All major faiths value peace and tolerance.'
'That is why I am especially outraged by the reports from Iraq of brutal killings of civilians by ISIL,' he added, using the old name for the IS.
'Whole communities that had lived for generations in northern Iraq are being forced to flee or face death just for their religious beliefs.'
Ban said that communities should not be threatened simply because of 'who they are and what they
believe'.
In her comments earlier this week, UN rights chief Navi Pillay said the persecution of minority groups in Iraq by IS amounted to crimes against humanity.
She said that minority groups targeted included Christians, Yazidi, Shabaks, Turkomen, Kakae and
Sabaeans.
After occupying parts of Syria, the jihadists took over swathes of Iraq with a lightning offensive in June, sparking widespread international alarm.
IS has also been accused of atrocities in Syria, with a UN probe this week charging that public executions, amputations, lashings and mock crucifixions were a regular fixture in jihadist-controlled parts of the country.
The group also claimed the killing of US journalist James Foley, who was kidnapped in northern Syria in 2012, last week releasing a video that showed a masked militant beheading him.
In London, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday he planned to introduce new legislation to make it harder for Britons to travel to Syria and Iraq to fight alongside the jihadists.
Cameron, who said he would detail his plans in parliament on Monday to confiscate passports, was speaking as Britain raised its international terrorism threat level to 'severe', its second highest level.
'I will be making a statement in the House of Commons on Monday. This will include further steps to stop people traveling, with new legislation that will make it easier to take people's passports away,' Cameron told a news conference.
British Home Secretary (interior minister) Theresa May also said that the level of threat 'means that a terrorist attack is highly likely, but there is no intelligence to suggest that an attack is imminent.'
'The increase in the threat level is related to developments in Syria and Iraq where terrorist groups are planning attacks against the West. Some of those plots are likely to involve foreign fighters who have traveled there from the UK and Europe to take part in those conflicts.'
It is the first time since mid-2011 that Britain has been placed on this grade of alert following an assessment carried out by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, the body responsible for setting the national threat level.
It comes less than two weeks after a video released by IS showed the beheading of US journalist Foley, apparently by a masked knifeman speaking English with a London accent. An investigation to identify the suspected attacker is ongoing.
Foley's gruesome murder prompted demands for extra security measures to tackle Britons travelling to the Middle East to join militant groups after officials again warned that some of those who had gone to Syria or Iraq to fight might return to Britain to carry out attacks.
Soon afterward, May promised tougher new laws against Islamists to stop them going abroad and to tackle radicalization among Britain's 2.7 million Muslims.
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