Libyan Moslem leader appeals for Indonesian support
JAKARTA (JP): A Libyan Islamic leader made a direct appeal to Indonesian Moslems yesterday to help remove United Nations' sanctions against his people, saying that Libyans have been prevented from performing the haj pilgrimage.
"We hope to inform the Indonesian people on the tremendous suffering happening in Libya," said Syeh Ibrahim Ali Arrabu, Deputy Secretary General of the Jami'ah Dakwah Islam International organization based in Tripoli.
Even if at the moment they cannot do much to help, they will at least know of the adversity we are facing, he said yesterday.
Ibrahim, who is here on behalf of the Libyan government, left for Malaysia yesterday after a three-day visit in Indonesia to garner grassroots support for the cessation of a three-year old sanctions imposed by the United Nations.
Ibrahim told The Jakarta Post that during his stay he has met with officials from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Foreign Ministry's Director for African and Middle East Affairs Djamaris B. Suleman along with a number of Islamic organizations.
He pointed to Indonesia's growing importance in the international community and its large Moslem population as a reason for his desire to seek support here.
The sanctions came as a result of Libya's refusal to hand over two of its citizens, Al Amin Khalifa Phimah and Abdel Baset Ali Al Megrahi, who are suspected for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am plane over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed over 270 people.
"The issue is not a matter of yielding the two men...the issue is our sovereignty, freedom and self-respect," Ibrahim said countering the allegations on Libya's refusal to hand over the two suspected terrorists.
Last year Libyan foreign minister Omar Mustafa Al-Muntasir came to Indonesia to request the assistance of President Soeharto as chairman of the 110-nation Non-Aligned Movement to help settle the problem.
Ibrahim said he appreciated the efforts of the NAM chairman and that of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in their support for Libya through the release of several resolutions.
However he was saddened that neither one of the resolutions had been heeded by the United Nations.
Ibrahim explained that the sanctions are merely another tactic of the superpower countries, namely the United States, Britain and France, under the cloak of the United Nations.
One of the most notable restrictions imposed is the screening of Libya going abroad. This sanction has brought on a paradox where Libyans cannot freely go on the haj, the holy Islamic pilgrimage to the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Libyans going on the haj have to first receive permission from the United Nations.
Ibrahim raged this sanction describing it as an intrusion into the Islamic faith.
"It cannot be tolerated...for that reason the Libyan government have decided not to let its citizens go on the haj if it means having to get permission of Boutros-Ghali," he said referring to the UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
He warned that such intrusions may be the beginning of superpower intervention in Islamic life.
"This goes against the Libyan Constitution, the UN Charter and logic," Ibrahim argued.
Between 30,000 to 40,000 Libyans usually attend the holy pilgrimage each year. (07)