Religious group calls for end to U.S. anti-terrorism drive

Yogita Tahil Ramani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Some 300 members of the Islamic Defenders Front from Surakarta (FPI-S) staged a protest outside the U.S. Embassy here on Tuesday, demanding that Indonesia sever all relations with the U.S., which they accused of carrying out a crusade against Islam and Islamic parties.

"In its war against terrorism, the U.S. is using all its power to corner Islam and Muslim organizations," Mudzakir, one of the FPI-S chiefs, said in the protest.

"Indonesia must sever all relations with the U.S. government. The U.S. is targeting Islamic countries, including Indonesia, and labeling them as terrorist countries," Mudzakir said.

Under tight police security, the protesters condemned Washington for using too much aggression against the Taliban and the al-Qaeda terrorist group of Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon in Washington and the World Trade Center in New York.

The protesters also blamed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for aggravating Indonesia's economic crisis.

"Prices have soared because the government has abided by the wishes of the IMF and the U.S.," read one of their posters. "The IMF has worsened the economy," said another.

The government raised fuel prices last week by an average of 22 percent in a bid to ease the burden on the state budget caused by subsidies and to curb the smuggling of fuel out of the country.

The IMF has urged the government to cut back on subsidies, including those on fuel.

"The government must also stop reviewing the antiterrorism bill, since that also is a product of pressure by the U.S. government. There are other more pressing matters our nation is facing now, and terrorism is not one of them," Mudzakir said.

The tightly-guarded embassy was the scene of almost daily protests late last year, condemning the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan.

The protests, which were mostly organized by militant groups, severely tarnished the image of Indonesia's brand of Islam, long known as a tolerant and peace-loving religion.

Leaders of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, the country's two largest Muslim organizations with a combined membership of close to 70 million people, said earlier that FPI-S and other militant groups were only minority groups and did not represent the Islamic mainstream.

The two organizations have also agreed to join forces to fight extremism, but have yet to make concrete steps in that direction.