Gus Dur supporters in town to pray for peace: Hasyim

Gus Dur supporters in town to pray for peace: Hasyim

JAKARTA (JP): With an estimated 15,000 supporters of President
Abdurrahman Wahid having already arrived in the capital,
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) leaders tried to defuse fears of unrest
following their planned mass prayer meeting on Sunday.

NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi said on Tuesday that the Muslim
organization's followers would pray for peace and urge the
country's leaders to seek a solution to the prolonged bickering
that has put the nation's survival at stake.

"The mass prayer has nothing to do with the movements in favor
of or against Gus Dur. It's intended solely for the sake of the
country," said Hasyim, referring to the President by his
nickname.

Hasyim, who was speaking at an editors' club meeting here,
said that the mass gathering had long been planned, and it was
just a coincidence that it was to take place on the eve of the
House of Representatives session to decide whether a second
rebuke would be issued against the President.

"We initially planned the mass prayer for Feb. 18, but since
most of the senior clerics (kyais) were abroad, we rescheduled
the event for April 29.

"Had the House stuck to its original legislative calendar, the
mass prayer would not be taking place so close to the plenary
session," Hasyim said.

The House cut short its recess by two weeks to facilitate the
holding of the plenary session on the grounds that its first
memorandum of censure against the President would expire on May
1.

Fears of violence have been growing as thousands of so-called
death squad members (volunteers sworn to defend the President to
the end) will be among those flooding the capital in support of
the beleaguered President should the House hand down a second
censure.

Earlier in the day, Hasyim said he guaranteed that all the
participants in the mass prayer meeting from outside Jakarta
would leave the capital as soon as the event, to be held at
Gelora Bung Karno sports complex, concluded.

But he was quick to add that the NU would not shoulder the
responsibility for any disturbances arising from the actions of
"outside provocateurs" who had infiltrated the crowd.

"In any case, the NU is fully cooperating with the National
Police to make sure that the representatives of every NU office
nationwide arriving for the prayers and their vehicles will be
checked and documented," Hasyim said at a meeting with Jakarta
Police chief Insp. Gen. Mulyono Sulaiman.

Mulyono said he had obtained assurances from the commander of
the "dead squad", Nuril Arifin, that the paramilitary volunteers
would return to their respective hometowns immediately after the
mass prayer.

"This is the understanding I have with Nuril Arifin. His
volunteers will return to their bases after the prayers, which
will end at around 1 p.m. They will not stay on here to stage any
kind of protest on April 30," Mulyono said.

"Of course, there is no guarantee. But this is a good start.
Nuril has also promised that none of his volunteers will carry
firearms or cause disturbances."

But Nuril told a different story. He said some 350,000 of his
volunteers, some of whom have reportedly undergone rigorous
training in East Java forests, would stay in the capital
indefinitely.

"As of today, there are 15,000 volunteers already in town.
Their stay here will depend on the money I have and how long they
can hold out if we run short of food," he said.

He admitted that the volunteers would "try to go to the House"
during the plenary session.

"It couldn't be classed as an encirclement. We will enter onto
the House grounds only if we are permitted to do so. But, if we
are barred we will protest outside the compound," he said.

Separately, the Lasykar Jihad Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamma'ah Muslim
group declared on Tuesday it would send some 1,500 personnel,
fresh from its mission in Maluku, to Jakarta to help the security
forces maintain order.

"Our members will be deployed in a number of areas around the
MPR/DPR complex in Central Jakarta, just in case any disturbances
break out," the group's leader, Ja'far Umar Thalib, told
reporters on Tuesday at his office on Jl. Cempaka Putih, Central
Jakarta. (44/ylt/dja)