Religious leaders urge govt action to stop Iraq war<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post,
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Religious leaders urged the government on Friday to take
\nimmediate and concrete action to stop United States-led attack on
\nIraq through the United Nations.<\/p>\n
Solahuddin Wahid, the deputy chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU),
\nthe country's largest Muslim organization with 40 million
\nmembers, said the government had to do more than just issue a
\nstatement deploring the war.<\/p>\n
\"The government must take real action rather than only
\ndeploring the attack,\" he said, adding that he hoped the war
\nwould end soon in order to prevent a major humanitarian crisis in
\nIraq.<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri said on Thursday \"the
\ngovernment and the people of Indonesia strongly deplore the
\nunilateral action taken by the government of the U.S and its
\nallies\".<\/p>\n
Solahuddin, who is also the deputy chairman of the National
\nCommittee on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), said the government must
\nactively urge the UN to continue its efforts to stop the war.<\/p>\n
Goodwill Zuber, the secretary-general of Muhammadiyah, the
\ncountry's second-largest Muslim organization, said the government
\nmust persuade other UN members to hold an emergency meeting to
\nbring the war to an end.<\/p>\n
\"The President and her Cabinet must be more active in
\naddressing this issue in the UN forum,\" he said, pointing out
\nthat many UN member countries and some permanent members of the
\nUN Security Council opposed the war.<\/p>\n
Goodwill, who called the war an act of aggression by the U.S.
\nand its allies against Iraq, also urged the government to address
\nthe issue in the forum of the Non-Aligned Movement.<\/p>\n
\"The people are waiting for follow-up action to the
\ngovernment's recent statement against the aggression in Iraq,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Both NU and Muhammadiyah are known as moderate Muslim
\norganizations.<\/p>\n
Nathan Setiabudi of the Indonesian Communion of Churches
\nsuggested that the government encourage the UN to address the
\nissue.<\/p>\n
\"No single country has the right to attack others without
\napproval from the UN, which is the most authoritative
\norganization on earth to date,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Solahuddin, Goodwill and Nathan also urged the government to
\nprepare humanitarian assistance for the Iraqi people.<\/p>\n
\"Muhammadiyah will send humanitarian aid to the Iraqis soon,\"
\nsaid Goodwill, whose organization has 30 millions members across
\nthe country.<\/p>\n
Some analysts said Megawati's statement was sufficiently
\nstrong enough to send the U.S. a message of Indonesia's
\nopposition to the war, and was stern enough to explain the
\ngovernment's stance to a domestic audience.<\/p>\n
It was reported that U.S. President George W. Bush called
\nMegawati on Thursday evening concerning the strike on Iraq.<\/p>\n
Although there has been no official confirmation of the call,
\none of Megawati's aides said Bush called her at about 11 p.m. on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
The aide said the conversation was most likely related to the
\nsafety of U.S. interests here and not Jakarta's stance on the
\nwar, as Washington was already fully aware that Indonesia opposed
\nthe use of force in Iraq.<\/p>\n
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda neither denied nor
\nconfirmed the report, saying that the President had not informed
\nhim of any conversation with Bush.<\/p>\n
\"The President did not give me any information about the call,
\nso I cannot say anything,\" Hassan said after meeting with
\nMegawati on Friday.<\/p>\n
And none of the officials in the Presidential Office would
\ncomment on the report, saying the President had not said anything
\nregarding the call.<\/p>\n
Megawati and Bush have had numerous telephone conversations,
\nthe latest occurring after the Oct. 12 Bali bombings.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/religious-leaders-urge-govt-action-to-stop-iraq-war-1447893297",
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