JAKARTA, July 19 -- Indonesian ministry of law and human rights on Wednesday lifted a license it had issued for the establishment of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, an Islamic organization seeking to set up a global Islamic caliphate, a senior official said.
The move came as the government steps up efforts to ban radical groups from operating in the country.
"To uphold the unitary state of Indonesia, the legal status of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia is lifted," director general of legal administration of the ministry Freddy Harris announced at the ministry headquarters.
Indonesian president Joko Widodo has signed a decree which gives the government power to end activities of radical groups.
The country's security authorities have been on alert as the presence of Islamic States cells is discovered in almost every province in the form of clandestine "sleeper cells," according to military commander General Gatot Nurmantyo.
