Gus Dur to attend Jerusalem conference

Gus Dur to attend Jerusalem conference

JERUSALEM: Former President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid is to
join an array of international political and religious figures in
Jerusalem next week for an interfaith peace conference.

Gus Dur and another 3,000 delegates from around the world will
attend the two-day conference, which starts with an opening
banquet at the Sheraton Plaza hotel in the holy city Friday
night.

Following the conference, the delegates will join hundreds of
Israelis to march for peace through Jerusalem's Old City on
Monday, after which there will be peace rally at Independence
Park.

The interfaith conference is sponsored by the Interreligious
and International Peace Council -- a body set up by Reverend
Doctor Sun Myung Moon, the leader of the Unification Church, more
commonly known as the "Moonies".

Wahid, who held office between 1999-2001, was due to arrive in
Israel on Friday, the conference organisers told AFP.

The former Indonesian leader, who belongs to Israel's Shimon
Peres Foundation, is also the former head of the Nahdlatul Ulama,
Indonesia's biggest moderate Islamic group which counts more than
40 million members.

Wahid has been criticised for advocating trade and diplomatic
ties with Israel.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim majority state, is
a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause and has no
diplomatic ties with Israel.