Susilo wants to be advocate for moderate Islam

Susilo wants to be advocate for moderate Islam

Agencies, Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says he would consider
becoming a globe-trotting advocate for moderate Islam, promoting
peace in hotspots including the Middle East.

Susilo, who was sworn in as the country's sixth predident on
Oct. 20, said he wanted Indonesia, the world's most populous
Muslim nation, to be a model for moderate Islamic democracy.

"I could go to other parts of the world, by for example,
playing a more active role in the Middle East, by having greater
communications with Islamic countries worldwide," Susilo told
Australia's Channel Nine in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

"And of course, if everything is going well, then Indonesia
can be a good example, a good model of Islam that is compatible
with democracy," he said.

Susilo also rejected Australian overtures for a new security
treaty, saying that he did not want to hold security talks with
Canberra.

The idea of a new Australia-Indonesia security pact to replace
an agreement that was scrapped when Canberra sent troops into
East Timor in 1999 was floated by Australian Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer last month.

Downer said early last month that Australia was considering
negotiating a new treaty that would build on a memorandum of
understanding on counterterrorism signed by Prime Minister John
Howard and former Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri in
2002, in response to the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

Susilo said he he had not received a proposal from the
Australian government and he did not believe a treaty was
appropriate.

"What we need now is a kind of security dialogue, a forum that
could discuss different issues on matters on security," he told
Channel Nine.

"I don't have any proposal submitted by the Australian
government related to the so-called security treaty.

"But for me, it would be more proper if we just go to
strengthen our security dialogue, as also happened within the
ASEAN context."

The newly-elected Indonesian president also suggested
Australia's support for the US-led war in Iraq had raised the
country's profile as a terrorist target.

"We know the act of terrorism grows in recent years because of
many international factors," Yudhoyono said.

"The situation in the Middle East, in Iraq and other places
may cause solidarity among the terrorists to attack certain
target. For example westerners target."