Iraq war not sectarian: Religious leaders

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Yogyakarta

The country's interfaith groups are stepping up efforts to contain a possible shift in the sentiment toward the Iraqi war from one of humanitarian concern to a religious issue.

Speaking to the press after a meeting with foreign affairs minister Hassan Wirayuda on Wednesday, the religious leaders asserted that believers of all religions in the country were united in their opposition to the current war on Iraq.

"We should continuously underline that what is happening in Iraq is not a sectarian war," Muslim scholar Komaruddin Hidayat said after the meeting.

"We should consolidate to ensure that the issue will never disrupt domestic stability."

As part of the campaign to contain moves to reduce the Iraq war to a sectarian issue, the interfaith group will organize an antiwar rally, to be participated in by followers of all religions and faiths.

"We will arrange a rally that will not be dominated by Muslims," Komaruddin of Paramadina University said. Indonesia is the world's most populous country.

No place and date have been set for the rally.

Such a rally, however, already took place in Yogyakarta.

Hundreds of people grouped under the Interfaith Solidarity for Peace held a mass prayer for the Iraqi people on Wednesday.

The gathering, attended by members of 29 community groups, also condemned the attack by the U.S. and its allies on Iraq and called for an end to the war.

Another group of 200 people from different religions also conducted a prayer at Gadjah Mada University, with leaders of the respective religious groups taking turns in leading the prayer.

"We express our deepest condolences for the war victims including civilians, women, and children, who are the victims of the ambitions of a few people," the statement of the group said.

Foreign minister Hassan said the government was fully aware of the importance of working together with community leaders to contain a possible shift in focus that would make the Iraq war a religious issue.

"There is an urgency to consolidate ranks with religious leaders to contain the possible shift in the issue that would disrupt domestic stability," the minister said.

Chairman of the Indonesian Communion of Churches Rev. Nathan Setiabudi also said that all religions were against the war as it was against humanity.

Interfaith groups have been working hand in hand to campaign against the war in the past months. They visited Australia and Europe to send the message of Indonesia's opposition to the war before the U.S. began its strike.

The religious leaders had been actively appearing in public forums as a united group against the U.S. incursion on Iraq and have been effectively communicating the message to the public that religion had nothing to do with the war.