RI leaders warn U.S. not to attack Iraq<\/p>\n
or<\/p>\n
'U.S. must not fight Iraq as it will cause chaos in RI'<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Noted Muslim leaders, scholars and activists warned the United
\nStates on Saturday against attacking Iraq, saying that a war
\nagainst Baghdad would only encourage radicalism and undermine
\nefforts to promote democracy, particularly in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
In a meeting with U.S. under Secretary of State James A. Kelly
\nhere on Saturday, Muslim leaders and scholars emphasized that any
\nattack against Iraq would invite chaos from the country's Muslim
\nmasses.<\/p>\n
\"We asked him (Kelly) if the U.S. was a true friend of
\nIndonesia because if they say they are, then America should
\nsupport democratization here,\" activist Chusnul Mariyah said
\nafter the meeting.<\/p>\n
Aside from Chusnul, Muslim leaders and scholars Hasyim Musadi,
\nNurcholish Madjid, Komaruddin Hidayat, Toety Alawiyah, Ulil
\nAbshar Abdalla and Ismail Suny were also attending the meeting at
\nthe residence of U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce in
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
The United States and its allies are sending troops to Middle
\nEastern countries to be ready if a war with Iraq comes about, as
\nit may if Iraq fails to pass UN inspections for weapons of mass
\ndestruction.<\/p>\n
Some have speculated that the U.S. could attack Iraq on Jan.
\n27 when the United Nations inspection team is due to report to
\nthe world body on whether or not Iraq has nuclear or chemical
\nweapons.<\/p>\n
According to Chusnul, the Muslim leaders and scholars told
\nKelly that a war against Iraq would provoke violations of civil
\nrights especially against women and children.<\/p>\n
\"That will be no help at all to the democratization here,\"
\nChusnul claimed.<\/p>\n
Analysts had earlier warned that with the current shaky
\npolitical condition after the terrorist attacks in Bali, would
\nfurther exacerbate anti-western sentiment and would greatly
\nundermine the country's stability.<\/p>\n
Muslim scholar Komaruddin Hidayat also told Kelly that
\nattacking Iraq would encourage radicalism to grow in Indonesia
\nand jeopardize political conditions in the country.<\/p>\n
\"The attack will cause instability in Indonesia, and in the
\nregion, and it will be scary for all of us,\" Komaruddin said
\nafter the meeting.<\/p>\n
\"Moderate Muslims here will lose their legitimacy should the
\nUnited States fail to prove that they are being fair in their
\npolicy against Muslim countries,\" he stressed.<\/p>\n
Kelly arrived here on Friday for a two-day visit as part of
\nhis Asia tour that took him to China, South Korea and Singapore,
\nIndonesia and Japan to discuss the current situation in North
\nKorea and Iraq.<\/p>\n
He met President Megawati Soekarnoputri, Coordinating Minister
\nfor Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and
\nMinister for Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda on Friday.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-leaders-warn-us-not-to-attack-iraq-1447893297",
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