NU youths pledge to defend RI

MAGELANG, Central Java: About 5,000 young followers in the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, have grouped in a task force and pledged they were ready to defend the country and fight Australian troops.

They were among the latest wave of protesters who have supported the view that Australians, who make up the largest part of the multinational force in East Timor, had no right to be there.

The youths were members of the NU youth group, Barisan Pemuda Ansor.

"Thousands of Ansor youth have applied to join forces and are ready to be deployed any time (to East Timor). We're just waiting for further command from the central chief of Ansor," Dulchori Arif, head of Ansor in Magelang, said.

Anti-Australian protests also continued here on Tuesday as a group of students under the Indonesian National Students Movement (GMNI) staged speeches in front of Australia's trade representative in Semarang. (har/edt)