Gus Dur may face police questioning

JAKARTA (JP): A Moslem activist filed a complaint with the police yesterday over remarks by popular Moslem leader Abdurrahman Wahid he considered slanderous.

Chief of the City Police Detectives Col. Paimin Aboeamr said the authorities would study the claim lodged by Andrianto, chief of the Humanika Foundation.

Andrianto claimed Gus Dur, as Abdurrahman is affectionately called, accused Humanika in a seminar this week of masterminding the Dec. 26 riot in Tasikmalaya, West Java.

Under the Indonesia legal system, inciting riots is a serious offense that can be tried under the subversion law, which carries a maximum penalty of death.

Andrianto charged that Gus Dur, who chairs the 30 million- strong Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Moslem organization, had tarnished the foundation's good name.

Paimin said the police would summon the conflicting parties if they deemed the complaint worth investigating.

Accompanying Andrianto were Humanika's public relations officer Herdarmin and Nurul Silhi Nawawi, chief of Humanika's office in Malang, East Java.

Gus Dur accused Humanika of providing funds for several NU activists to stir up the riot, which claimed four lives and caused extensive damage to non-Moslem facilities. (jun)