AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Tuesday March 26, 2002 5:08 PM
Western envoys hold dialogue with Indonesia's Muslim groups
JAKARTA, March 26 (AFP) - Ambassadors from Western and Islamic states held
talks Tuesday with several moderate and hardline Muslim organisations in Indonesia
to discuss the relationship between Islam and the West.
Among those taking part in the dialogue, organised by Indonesia's second largest
Muslim organisation Muhammadiyah, were envoys from the United States, Britain,
Germany, Australia and Malaysia, as well as a Palestinian representative.
Indonesian groups included the country's largest Muslim group, Nahdlatul Ulama, the
Justice Party and the Islamic paramilitary group Laskar Jihad.
The seminar took place amid growing concern among some Western countries about
Indonesia's potential as a refuge for international terrorists.
US ambassador Ralph Boyce told the seminar that Islam is a "revered and important
religion" in the US with some seven million followers.
He also said Indonesia -- the world's most populous Muslim nation -- would continue
"to earn its tremendous reputation as a home of tolerance and openness."
Boyce said every nation should work together to achieve common goals including a
peaceful world by getting rid of "the scourge of terrorism."
"Terrorism threatens all people, all countries ... and Indonesia has been the victim of
terrorism on its own soil," the ambassador said, citing the bombing of churches
across the country in recent years.
Indonesia has also come under pressure from within and outside the region to take
action against alleged terrorist leaders but has played down the threat.
Three Indonesians arrested at Manila airport have been jointly charged with illegal
possession of explosives.
Philippine police have said all three reportedly met associates of Father Rohman
al-Ghozi, another Indonesian detained in the country over terrorism allegations.
Laskar Jihad in 2000 sent thousands of fighters to Indonesia's Maluku islands to help
Muslims battle Christians. It says it is now engaged in humanitarian work there.
Its leader Jaafar Umar Thalib, who took part in the seminar, has previously denied his
group has links to international terror.
He says he met accused terror mastermind Osama bin Laden while both were fighting
against Soviet occupiers in Afghanistan in the 1980's, but maintains he disagrees with
bin Laden's ideology.
Copyright © 2001 AFP. All rights reserved.
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