AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Tuesday January 22, 1:41 PM
Radical Muslim group blames price increases on IMF and US
JAKARTA, Jan 22 (AFP) -
Some 300 members of a radical Muslim group on Tuesday staged a protest outside
the US embassy, accusing the United States and the IMF of aggravating the
Indonesian economic crisis.
The protesters, from the Front for the Defenders of Islam, urged the government to
sever relations with the US and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is
coordinating a five-billion dollar loan program to bail out Indonesia's economy.
"Prices soar because the government abide by the wishes of the IMF and the US,"
read one of their posters.
"The IMF worsens the economy," another said.
The Front also criticised the US war in Afghanistan in retaliation for the September 11
attacks on New York and Washington, describing it as a "Crusade against Islam".
The government last week raised fuel prices by an average 22 percent. It said the
move was aimed at easing the budget burden created by subsidies and curbing the
smuggling of fuel out of t! he country.
The IMF has urged the government to cut back on subsidies, including on fuel.
The tightly-guarded embassy was the scene of near-daily protests late last year,
before and after the United States launched attacks in Afghanistan. But the protests
had died out in recent months.
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