Alwi briefs US on RI Muslims

JAKARTA: Former minister of foreign affairs Alwi Shihab has recently visited the United States to brief a couple of key officials on the state of radical Islam in Indonesia.

During his American visit, Alwi, who is also a Muslim scholar, met with deputy defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who once served as the U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, and an aide to President George W. Bush, Steve Hadley.

"They expressed their deep concern of the situation in Indonesia, where religious sentiment can easily trigger an anti- America drive. I told them that the anger of Muslim people here was a result of the recent offensive by Israel on Palestine," Alwi said after meeting with Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday.

Alwi, who now chairs the National Awakening Party co-founded by former president Abdurrahman Wahid, joined Nahdlatul Ulama chairman Hasyim Muzadi and Muhammadiyah chairman Syafiie Maarif as Indonesian Muslim figures invited to the U.S. in the wake of last year's Muslim terrorist attacks.

Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country.

Sjafiie is still in the U.S. and is scheduled to return home on Friday. -- JP