Antiwar rallies continue nationwide

Antiwar rallies continue nationwide

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With the war in Iraq moving closer to its third week old,
anti-American protesters in the country displayed no signs of
fatigue as they continued to voice their demand for an end to the
U.S.-led attack.

In Jakarta, 10 Iraqi refugees staged a rally in front of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Representative
Office on Jl. Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta.

The protesters urged the UNHCR to return them to Iraq to allow
them join their compatriots put up a fight against the coalition
forces.

"We watch the war on television every day, sparking our deep
concern of manslaughter in Iraq. We cannot help to return home to
join the struggle alongside Iraqi people against the U.S.-led
coalition," said the protesters.

Hundreds of Iraqi refugees have been in Indonesia to obtain
political asylum. Most of them fled the regime of incumbent
President Saddam Hussein.

Meanwhile, in the West Java capital of Bandung, around 300
protesters of the Indonesian Muslim Youth held anti-war rally
outside the West Java City Council Office on Jl. Diponegoro.

The protesters called on the dissolution of the United Nations
for the international institution's failure to prevent the
outbreak of the war in Iraq.

"We urge the dissolution of the United Nations as they are
proven ineffectual to prevent the war. Instead, the Non Aligned
Movement can be revived to replace its role," said the
protesters.

In Yogyakarta, at least 500 students of the Sunan Kalijaga
Islamic University, marched from their campus to the city's post
office on Jl. Senopati.

Those students stopped for 15 minutes in front of the American
franchised fast food outlet McDonald's on Jl. Malioboro, to call
for a boycott of the U.S. products.

Hundreds of students of the Ibnu Khaldun University in Bogor,
West Java, rallied in front of the Bogor City Hall to protest the
U.S. led strike on Iraq.

The protesters berated military action against Iraq which is
against the principle of sovereignty.

The military incursion in Iraq has incited worldwide
condemnation.

At home, the wave of demonstrations will heat up in the next
days due to swelling number of war victims in Iraq.

The United Development Party of Reform said earlier that it
plans to hold a massive anti-war demonstration on Wednesday.

The demonstration which will be led by popular Muslim cleric
Zainuddin M.Z. who also chairs the party, expects around one
thousand of protesters taking part in the rally.

Meanwhile, the National Democratic Party (PDK) of South
Sulawesi announced plans to hold a mass prayer for the Iraqi
people on Thursday evening at the Mandala Monument in the
provincial capital of Makassar.

The event's organizer, Harly Weku, said nearly 1,000 of the
party members would participate in the prayer, which will be
attended by the party deputy chairman Andi Alfian Mallarangeng.

Religious leaders, including from Islam, Christian, Hindu, and
Buddhism, will recite the prayer.

The largest antiwar rally was held in Jakarta on March 30,
involving hundreds of thousands of people from various groups and
faiths.