Hidayat threatens to sue United Nations

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The leader of the Prosperous and Justice Party (PKS) has threatened to sue the United Nations Security Council unless it retracts a claim his foundation is linked to al-Qaeda.

"I'm giving the UN Security Council a few weeks to correct the accusation and if they fail to do so, a lawsuit will be filed," said president Hidayat Nurwahid, as quoted by Antara on Sunday.

On Jan. 26 the UN Security Council announced it had added four entities suspected of helping al-Qaeda to a list of suspected terrorist financiers.

The groups, all with close variations of the name "Al Hairiman Al Khariyah" were based in Indonesia, Pakistan, Kenya and Tanzania. A few days earlier the UN had received requests from the United States and Saudi Arabia to add these organizations to the list.

Nurwahid said his foundation had nothing to do with its namesake headquartered in Saudi Arabia, which the UN had also accused of collecting funds for al-Qaeda. The name was a common one, he said.

He told The Jakarta Post late Sunday he was consulting with lawyers on whether to immediately issue proceedings to the UN or to wait first for the reaction of the Indonesian government.

"We have talked to the office of the Coordinating Minister of Political and Security Affairs and with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and they said they would help," he said.

Hidayat added there was no way the foundation in Riyadh would fund his party as they "have never acknowledged political parties."

His foundation focused on education, he said. Many alumni from the Middle East worked at the foundation, he added.