Yet they not only succeeded in boarding ships to Ambon, they were allowed to disembark with their weapons once there. Maluku Muslim leader Abdullah Soulissas says the jihad is providing only moral support. But according to former minister Juwono, the funding for the Laskar Jihad came from Jakarta. But the difficulty was getting legal evidence to apprehend them. Juwono believes many of the fighters have been recruited from Indonesia's growing lake of 37 million unemployed.
Money does talk.
Christians claim soldiers are switching to the white robes of the Jihad to cover up their activities. A mob armed with grenades, mortars and guns descended on his home late last year. He says they called themselves Muslims, yet were soldiers foremost. The soldiers put on white Muslim garbs and then launched the attack using standard military weapons. After that they got Muslims from the local community to loot and set fire to the houses.