President Susilo tells Muslims to promote peace
President Susilo tells Muslims to promote peace
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on Indonesian Muslims
to show the true face of Islam in order to change the world's
perception that the religion's adherents were partial to
terrorism.
In his opening speech to the Congress of Indonesian Muslims at
the Istiqlal Mosque on Sunday, the President said Islam was a
religion that encouraged its followers to promote peace and
justice, and to abjure all forms of violence.
"Terrorism has nothing to do with religious beliefs, or with
Islam either. All religious adherents, and even the atheists, may
commit terrorism," Susilo said before thousands of participants
at the congress, which will run until Thursday.
"I'm here to ask all Muslim people in this country to show the
world that Islam is a religion that promotes peace."
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country,
has been rocked by a series of deadly bombings since the Al-Qaeda
terror group attacked the United States in 2001. Indonesian
police are still hunting for Malaysian fugitives Azahari bin
Husin and Noordin Moh. Top for their alleged roles in the Bali
blasts in 2002, the Jakarta Marriot Hotel bombing in 2003 and the
attack on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta last year.
Soon after taking office last October, Susilo renewed the
country's commitment to eradicating terrorism. He ordered the
police to capture the two most-wanted fugitives during the first
100 days of his term, but the police were unsuccessful.
As co-sponsor of the event, the Indonesian Ulema Council has
also invited the secretary-general of the World Islamic League,
Sheikh Ahmed Mukhsin Al Turki, secretary-general of the World
Propagation Council Muhammad Syarief and Malaysian Prime Minister
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
The congress is set to discuss various issues involving the
cultural, economic, legal and political fields.
It is the fourth congress of its kind since 1937. The initial
event was considered a landmark in the country's independence
struggle.
Indonesian Muslims convened the second and third congresses in
1950 and 1998, with the last one held to discuss, among other
things, the commitment of Muslims to the reform movement in the
country after the fall of authoritarian New Order regime.
The ongoing congress was originally scheduled to take place in
2003, but was delayed due to the country's preparations for its
landmark direct legislative and presidential elections in 2004.
Outside the congress venue, thousands of supporters of the
Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) marched from the Hotel
Indonesia traffic circle on Jl. M.H. Thamrin to the American
Embassy on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan, both in Central Jakarta, to
demand concrete action from the government to support the
independence of Palestine.
"The President must fulfill his promise to support Palestine
as an independent state," PKS acting leader Tifatul Sembiring
said as he led the march.
He said that Susilo's promise had encouraged the party support
his presidential bid.