Rallies urging end to Iraq war continue to heat up

Rallies urging end to Iraq war continue to heat up

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Star Party of Reform (PBR) failed on Wednesday to make good
on its earlier boast that it would gather one million supporters
in a rally against the U.S.-led attack on Iraq.

Party chairman Zainuddin M.Z., a prominent Muslim cleric, led
a few thousand supporters who turned up for the rally, which
marked the new name of the party. The PBR changed its name from
the United Development Party of Reform in accordance with the
political party law, which bans parties from bearing the same
name.

PBR is a splinter group of the United Development Party, which
is chaired by Vice President Hamzah Haz.

Zainuddin said during the rally in front of the U.S. Embassy
on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan in Central Jakarta that the
incursion of Iraq was aimed at ousting the legitimate Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein, which is against international law.

"It is very clear that a rage to toppling President Saddam
Hussein's regime is behind U.S. President George W. Bush's motive
to devastate Iraq," he said.

Zainuddin also called on Americans to urge the U.S. government
and its allies to stop the war that created "Hell in Baghdad".

"Only my brothers, the Americans, can manage to stop Bush, who
is out of his mind, now," he said.

Meanwhile, dozens of protesters dressed in traditional attire
rallied outside the British Consulate Office and the U.S.
Consular Agency in the Balinese capital of Denpasar.

The protesters, who came from the Hare Krishna and Ashram
Gandhi spiritual Hindu groups in Bali, chanted several religious
songs during the rally.

In the East Java capital of Surabaya, around 100 activists of
the women's wing of the Association of Islamic Students (HMI),
rallied outside the U.S. Consulate Office on Jl. Dr. Sutomo to
demand an end to the war.

The students said the U.S. and its allies were promoting neo-
colonialism and neo-imperialism by invading Iraq, burned the
American, British and Australian national flags, and called for a
boycott of U.S. products, including the American dollar.

They also unfurled banners reading "PBB stands for Persatuan
Badut-badut" (The United Clowns) and "Boycott the U.S. Dollar".
"PBB" is the Indonesian acronym for the United Nations.

"We demand the Indonesian government to withdraw all diplomats
from the U.S. and its allies and sever diplomatic ties with those
aggressors," they yelled.

In Yogyakarta, about 200 activists from the National
Students Front (FMN) and the Indonesian Muslim Students Front
(KAMMI) of Gadjah Mada University rallied on campus.

In a written statement, the FMN condemned the attack on Iraq,
calling it a war initiated by an imperialist country which wanted
to expand its power, and therefore, they urged President Megawati
Soekarnoputri to freeze Indonesia's diplomatic ties with the U.S.
and its allies.

KAMMI, on the other hand, demanded an international tribunal
for President Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and
Australian Prime Minister John Howard on charges of war crimes.

The government has repeatedly dismissed calls to sever
diplomatic ties with the countries involved in the war and to
boycott their products.