Ulemas deny pardoning Harmoko<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Ulemas Council (MUI), an umbrella group for
\nIndonesian Moslem organizations, denies forgiving Information
\nMinister Harmoko for allegedly offending Islam by twisting a
\nverse from the Koran.<\/p>\n
Council chairman Hasan Basri said in Surabaya Saturday that
\nwhat he said in a press statement earlier this month was that the
\ninfluential body "understood" that Harmoko made a slip of the
\ntongue.<\/p>\n
"No, no. We didn't say 'pardon' but we said 'could understand'
\nbecause to err is just human", Basri was quoted by the Antara
\nnews agency.<\/p>\n
Harmoko, who is also chief of the ruling Golkar party,
\nreportedly "mispronounced" the Al-Fatihah verse of the Koran when
\nhe was opening a shadow puppet festival in the ancient Central
\nJavanese town of Surakarta in July.<\/p>\n
Basri said that the council is not in a position to forgive
\nanyone making a mistake concerning Islam because only Allah has
\nthe divine authority to do so.<\/p>\n
"He (Harmoko) can pray for forgiveness to God. If there is any
\nimpression that the council pardons him, it must be a
\nmisinterpretation," he said.<\/p>\n
Spearheaded by students, Moslems unhappy with the prompt
\nreaction from the council have held demonstrations in Yogyakarta
\nand Jakarta protesting both the council and Harmoko.<\/p>\n
The prosecutor's office, which also has come under attack for
\nnot enforcing the law the same way it has with a number of other
\naccused of committing similar offenses, has legally cleared
\nHarmoko of any wrongdoing on the grounds that he did it by
\nmistake. (pan)<\/p>",
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