Indonesian leaders ask U.S. to exercise restraint<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): U.S. President George W. Bush's pledge to
\nretaliate against the terrorists who attacked America on Tuesday
\nprompted Indonesian leaders to call for restraint.<\/p>\n
Vice President Hamzah Haz and People's Consultative Assembly
\n(MPR) Speaker Amin Rais warned on Thursday that the U.S. should
\nconduct thorough investigations before taking any retaliatory
\naction.<\/p>\n
Hamzah said that the American government should not attribute
\nthe terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center and
\nWashington's Pentagon to Islam.<\/p>\n
\"These (terrorist) acts were not in line with Islamic
\nteaching,\" said Hamzah as quoted by Imam Addaruqutni, chairman of
\nthe Islamic Muhammadiyah organization, after meeting with the
\nVice President.<\/p>\n
Hamzah and Amien said that if the U.S. turned out to be wrong
\nagain, like when it prematurely blamed the 1995 Oklahoma office
\nblock bombing on Middle Eastern Islamic groups, religious harmony
\nall over the world would be in jeopardy.<\/p>\n
They agreed that all terrorist acts must be condemned but also
\nthat the U.S. should avoid inflicting violence on the Islamic
\nworld.<\/p>\n
\"To retaliate is America's right, but I would just like to
\nremind them that they once made a big mistake,\" said Amin,
\nrecalling the time when U.S. agents tracked down two Arab youths
\nthey suspected of the Oklahoma bombing to as far away as
\nAmsterdam.<\/p>\n
In the present situation, American officials should keep cool
\nand not take any action that could tarnish the country's image,
\nsaid Amien, who is also chairman of the National Mandate Party
\n(PAN) and a former chief of Muhammadiyah.<\/p>\n
Words of caution also came from the secretary-general of the
\nYogyakarta Interfaith Brotherhood Forum (FPUB), Abdul Muhaimin
\nand La Ode Abdul Rauf, the leader of the Indonesian Muslim
\nIntellectuals Association (ICMI) in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
\"If America continues to terrorize other nations, it will only
\nworsen radicalism in the world,\" Muhaimin said. \"Based on what I
\nheard from the VOA, there is a growing opinion in the U.S. that
\nthe attack should not be linked to any religious groups,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Rauf warned the U.S. against mindlessly attacking Muslim
\ncountries suspected of collaborating with the perpetrators of
\nTuesday's attacks on New York and Washington.<\/p>\n
\"I personally condemn these inhumane terrorist attacks but
\nhope that America will not respond by brutally taking revenge on
\nIslamic countries,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Rauf, who is also a professor of socio-political science at
\nHaluoleo University in Kendari, said he could not imagine how
\nmany innocent people would become victims if the U.S. were to
\nretaliate on a large scale.<\/p>\n
\"Such indiscriminate revenge would also increase animosity
\nagainst the U.S.,\" Rauf told Antara.<\/p>\n
He said he believed Tuesday's attacks on the World Trade
\nCenter and Pentagon were carried out by well-organized,
\ninternational terrorist groups.<\/p>\n
\"In the history of terrorism, only Islamic and Japanese groups
\nhave had such capabilities, so it's understandable if America
\npoints the finger at fundamentalist groups.\"<\/p>\n
He added that Washington should not use the terrorist attacks
\nas a pretext for pressurizing the Arab world to succumb to
\nAmerica's wishes.<\/p>\n
Indria Samego, a military analyst from the Indonesian
\nInstitute of Sciences (LIPI) said that while the world would
\nagree that terrorism should be condemned, any retaliatory
\nmeasures should be measured.<\/p>\n
\"The retaliation should not cause misery to many innocent
\npeople,\" Indria said.<\/p>\n
Kusnanto Anggoro of the Centre for Strategic and International
\nStudies (CSIS) also theorized that economic sanctions were an
\nalternative to military action against countries suspected of
\nharboring terrorists.<\/p>\n
\"The U.S. should follow diplomatic norms by asking the country
\nit believes to be harboring the suspects to extradite them to the
\nU.S. Economic sanctions may be able to force the country to
\ncomply with such a request,\" Kusnanto added. (23\/02)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesian-leaders-ask-us-to-exercise-restraint-1447893297",
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