Religious leaders meet to counter extremism

Religious leaders meet to counter extremism

Agencies,
Canberra/Jakarta

A meeting of religious leaders from Southeast Asia this weekend
will promote moderation and send a strong message of opposition
to religious extremists as part of the war on terror,
representatives of the Australian and Indonesian governments said
on Friday.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Indonesian
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda will co-host the International
Dialog on Interfaith Cooperation at Yogyakarta on Monday and
Tuesday. Indonesia's Islamic organization Muhammadiyah will also
organize the meeting.

Ten religious and community leaders and interfaith experts
from six countries grouped in the Southwest Pacific Dialog forum
-- Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Papua New
Guinea and East Timor -- and each of the 10 members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, will attend the dialog.

"The theme of this dialog is how to empower moderates within
religions across our region," Hassan told reporters.

"This will send a strong message to radicals and militants
that we are united against radicalism," he said after the meeting
of Southwest Pacific countries in Victor Harbor in the south
Australia state of Adelaide.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is expected to
open the dialog on Monday.

"The ministers welcomed an innovative approach to empower
religious moderates through the convening of an Interfaith Dialog
in Yogyakarta from Dec. 6 to Dec. 7 ... The ministers are keen
that this dialog can highlight the religious values shared in
Asia Pacific nations. The dialog could become part of an ongoing
process to address the circumstances that may foster terrorism,"
according to a joint statement from the Southwest Pacific dialog
meeting released in Jakarta on Friday.

Downer said he hoped the inaugural interfaith dialog would be
the start of a successful attempt to counter religious extremism
by empowering moderates in the region and fostering a common
resolve to fight terror.

"I think that this meeting is going to be, in time -- not in
the short term, but in time -- very helpful in terms of promoting
the message of moderation, in countering terrorism," he was
quoted by Reuters.

The Southwest Pacific Dialog was attended by foreign ministers
from six above-mentioned countries. The ministers discussed a
range of issues like counter-terrorism and maritime cooperation,
transnational crimes and development challenges (economic growth,
human resources development, HIV/AIDS and other epidemics).

The Southwest Pacific dialog forum was set up in Oct. 5, 2002
in Yogyakarta, on Indonesia's initiative. Member countries host
the ministerial level meetings successively every year, and the
dialog has also taken place at the United Nations headquarters in
New York.

Next year's dialog will be held in New York, on the sidelines
of the General Assembly meeting at UN. The Philippines will host
the meeting in 2006.