RI, Algeria to preach peace-loving Islam

RI, Algeria to preach peace-loving Islam

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia and Algeria, two Muslim-dominated countries, have
agreed to join hands in promoting Islam as a religion of peace
that renounces violence and terrorism.

"We agree that there should be concerted efforts to present
Islam as a moderate, tolerant and peace-loving religion,"
President Megawati Soekarnoputri said at a joint media conference
with visiting Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Monday.

Bouteflika arrived here on Sunday for a four-day state visit,
the first ever made by an Algerian president to the country.

Megawati underlined that the idea should be further pursued in
the upcoming Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit
in Kuala Lumpur on Oct. 16.

"Islam is a religion that shows tolerance to all people,
regardless of background, race or faith," Megawati stressed.

President Bouteflika, meanwhile, said improving the image of
Islam was part of a challenge faced by Muslim-dominated countries
and should be addressed at the coming OIC meeting.

Muslim countries have come under the world's spotlight after
terrorists associated with the international al-Qaeda network of
Muslim terrorist Osama bin Laden turned passenger planes into
deadly missiles that wreaked havoc in Washington and New York on
Sept. 11, 2001, killing more than 3,000 people.

A string of terror attacks in the country have also been
blamed on regional terrorist network Jamaah Islamiyah (JI),
believed to be the Southeast Asia wing of bin Laden's al-Qaeda.

More than 30 people have been arrested for their role in the
Bali bombings that killed at least 202 people and injured over
300 others, and two of them had been sentenced to death by the
Denpasar District Court.

Although the United States has repeatedly said that the global
fight against terrorism was not directed against Islam, Muslim-
dominated countries have had to accept the fact that their
citizens have often come under close scrutiny in many parts of
the world.

OIC member countries have continued to be divided and have
failed to come up with a common strategy to counter the bad
image.

During the media conference Megawati also said that there
should be efforts to revitalize the OIC, but did not give any
detail on how to achieve it.

"We believe that the root cause of terrorism is unjust
treatment, both politically and economically, in many parts of
the world," Megawati said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said after the
briefing that Megawati proposed to host an international
conference for Muslim and western scholars in February next year,
to formulate further steps to be taken in correcting negative
perceptions of Islam.

"We propose that the coming conference formulate how we should
present Islam as a religion that blesses everybody," Hassan said.

Megawati also said that the two countries would like to see
all parties in the Palestinian cause moving ahead with the peace
road map proposed by the U.S., Russia, the European Union and the
UN.

The two leaders also underlined that the UN should play a
greater role in the postwar situation in Iraq, since the U.S.
invasion.

The two presidents also witnessed the signing of three
memorandums of understanding on tourism, fisheries and small and
medium enterprises.

On Monday, the Algerian President also visited the state-owned
Krakatau Steel industrial complex at Cilegon, West Java. On
Tuesday, he is slated to visit the Jababeka Industrial Estate and
Bogor presidential palace, where Megawati will host a breakfast
for the visiting president.

The last leg of his Indonesia trip will be a visit to
Yogyakarta on Wednesday, to see the temple at Borobudur, one of
the wonders of the world.

He will leave for Kuala Lumpur after the visit to Yogyakarta.