VP tells hardliners to shun weapons

VP tells hardliners to shun weapons

JAKARTA: Vice President Hamzah Haz appealed on Friday to Muslim hard-liners to stop carrying sharp weapons during their street demonstrations against what they perceived as sinful acts.

"Please, do not bring any weapons such as machetes, sticks, much less firearms (when holding street rallies)," he said in a speech to open the National Working Congress of the Indonesian Mosques Council (DMI) in Jakarta.

Hamzah said Muslims would better off arming themselves with Koranic verses during protests at nightspots and other entertainment areas.

"I believe that chanting Koranic verses will encourage those inside the nightspots to abandon their vice," said Hamzah, also chairman of the Muslim-oriented United Development Party (PPP).

He refrained from naming any extremist organizations often blamed for attacking nightspots in Jakarta and other major cities.

Earlier this month, members of the Islam Defenders' Front attacked several nightclubs in Jakarta. Its leader Habib Rizieq Shihab was arrested for the attacks. --Antara