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."