Australian Muslims to visit Indonesia

Australian Muslims to visit Indonesia

JAKARTA: A group of Australians are visiting Indonesia under
the Australia-Indonesia Institute's (AII) Muslim exchange
program, the Australian Embassy said in a release.

Bayram Aktepe, the manager of Housing Projects in the
Victorian Department of Justice, his wife Meryam Apak, a lawyer
and an associate public defender at the Legal Aid Victoria,
Darren Azziz Cooper, project manager of the Muslim Prisoner
Chaplaincy Services in Victoria, and his wife Ruth Rasheeda, the
secretary of the Islamic Women's Welfare Council of Victoria, are
the first Australians to visit Indonesia under the program.

During their two-week stay here between Sept. 5 and Sept. 19,
the couples will meet a range of Islamic leaders, as well as
interfaith ethnic and community welfare groups in Jakarta and
Yogyakarta.

Established in 2002, the program involves young Muslim leaders
from both countries and aims to build links between Muslim
communities and to promote greater understanding about Islam in
Australia and Indonesia.

The exchanges are organized by the University of Melbourne and
the Australian National University, in conjunction with
Indonesian and Australian Islamic groups.

During the first year of the exchange, 11 Indonesians visited
Melbourne and Canberra. A further 12 young Indonesians will
travel to Australia either later this year or early next year. --
JP