Muslim congress to push for 'sharia'

Muslim congress to push for 'sharia'

MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi: Some 2,500 Muslims in South Sulawesi will begin a three-day congress here on Saturday to push for special autonomy to implement Islamic sharia law in the province.

The committee said on Friday that Vice President Hamzah Haz was scheduled to open the second congress at the Sudiang pilgrim dormitory, about 15 kilometers north of the province's capital of Makassar.

The main agenda to be discussed at the forum would be draft regional regulations and a special autonomy bill on the implementation of Islamic law.

"All preparations are already mature, including the agenda to be discussed during the congress," chief organizer Syahruddin Nawi told The Jakarta Post.

Aswar Hasan, a secretary of the steering committee, assured non-Muslims that the new autonomy law would not harm their existence and houses of worship in South Sulawesi.

The issue of sharia and the special autonomy bill surfaced during the first congress of Muslims in Makassar on Oct. 19-21 last year. -- JP