Militant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir announced on 6 August that he was resigning from the Indonesian Mujahidin Assembly (Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia, or MMI) due to an internal dispute. The MMI, with Ba'asyir as its emir, or leader, has been campaigning to turn Indonesia into an Islamic state. Its hard-line views have led many in the media to call it the overt face of Jemaah Islamiyah.
Ba'syir has left MMI because he disagreed with the leadership system the assembly has adopted. Under the current system, its top members are chosen by vote. Ba'asyir condemned such a democratic method as "un-Islamic," and instead said that the emir should be the only authorized decision-maker.
He is being temporarily replaced by his former deputy, cleric M. Tholib, until the MMI convenes its next congress to elect a new emir.