Mega urges Muslim scholars to improve country's image

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri called on Muslim scholars to help Indonesia to defuse the stigma that the country was a breeding ground for terrorists.

Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim country, with 80 percent of its 220 million-strong population following the faith.

Megawati urged scholars to conduct more studies to show that most Indonesians were moderate Muslims and do not tolerate violence or terror.

"Terror knows no boundaries -- it could come from anywhere, any religion and anyone," Megawati was quoted by noted Muslim scholar Azyumardi Azra, rector of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, as saying on Wednesday after a meeting with the President.

He further said the President urged people of all religions to enhance dialog among themselves to improve their relationship.

"Interreligious discussion could brush aside this negative perception and erase the terrorism stigma," the President was quoted by Azyumardi as saying.

Indonesia has been struggling to shrug off its image as a breeding ground for terrorists since it became linked to Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), a regional terrorist network with ties to al- Qaeda.

Most of the top members of JI who have been arrested abroad are said to be Indonesians, while the group is said to have its origins here.

The Oct. 12 Bali bombing last year, which killed 202 people, put Indonesia on the map as a terrorist den.

Some 30 have been arrested for the bombing and the key suspects -- all of whom claim to be from JI -- have testified that the bombing was part of the Islamic holy war of jihad, with an aim to establish an Islamic state here.

Megawati has repeatedly countered the negative international perception, saying that it was fallacious to think that the Bali bombing perpetrators represented the majority of Indonesian Muslims.

At the meeting, Azyumardi asked the President to open an international congress of Islamic universities, to which she agreed. The congress is to be held on Sept. 23 in Jakarta.

Azyumardi, who organized seminars in July on militancy, said 98 Islamic universities from around the world were slated to attend the congress.

Vice President Hamzah Haz defended Indonesian Muslims taking a different approach, by accusing the United States of being the real terrorist.

"Who is the real terrorist? It is the United States, for they have attacked Iraq. In fact, they are the king of terrorists," Hamzah said in Brebes, Central Java as quoted by Antara on Wednesday.

This is not the first time Hamzah has called the U.S. terrorists. Earlier this year, Hamzah called President George Bush the king of terrorists, irking Washington.

"As if Indonesia is the hotbed of terrorists and (the home of) the Jamaah Islamiyah network -- they (the U.S.) have accused us of aiding terrorists. We are being cornered, and Islam is being scrutinized," the Vice President was quoted as saying by Antara.

He said Islam had nothing to do with terrorism, because those who were involved in violent acts like the Bali bombings were deviant followers of Islam.

Hamzah is known for his closeness to radical Muslims in the country and once defended the Ngruki boarding school of Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.

Ba'asyir was just sentenced on Tuesday to four years' imprisonment on charges of treason and immigration violations, but was acquitted of leading JI, as many believed, and of plotting to assassinate then-vice president Megawati.