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