Depiction of Prophet protested

Depiction of Prophet protested

JAKARTA (JP): Ten Moslem students staged a peaceful
demonstration outside the United States embassy yesterday over
what they called "America's intolerance of Islam".

The representatives of the Jakarta Moslem Students Forum
protested the depiction of Prophet Muhammad in a relief beside
the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.

The students gathered for half an hour waving posters
condemning the U.S. government. The posters read "America is the
worst liar" and "USA supports Jews terrorist".

Ed McWilliams, the embassy's attache of political affairs, met
the protesters.

One of the students, Arif Jatnika, asked McWilliams to relay
their protest to Washington.

In a letter addressed to the U.S. government, the students
stated that the depiction of the Prophet insulted Moslems.

They demanded that the relief be demolished.

The Republika daily reported earlier that the Supreme Court
building of the United States was decorated with the reliefs of
famous figures, including prophets. Local Moslem communities
recently discovered that a relief of a person wielding a sword
and waving the Holy Koran, which was said to be Prophet Muhammad,
was among the reliefs. The relief was inscribed with the
sentence: "The founder of Islam".

American Moslems have demanded that the relief's demolition.
Islam prohibits models of the prophet. Furthermore, Prophet
Muhammad did not found Islam but carried the teaching of Islam
from Allah. (11)