Jakarta – Indonesia's biggest mainstream Muslim organisation said on Thursday it strongly opposed any US attack on Iraq. Hasyim Muzadi, head of the 40-million strong Nahdlatul Ulama, said his group would protest if the United States launched military action against Iraq, although he declined to say how.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation and a strike on Iraq would inflame the country's small, radical Islamic groups. It would also cause plenty of unease among the moderate Muslim majority in a country already under pressure to do more in the US-led war on terrorism.
"We totally oppose a US attack on Iraq ... What would it be based on? There's never been a clear argument from the United States, even their allies oppose it," Muzadi told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on terrorism in Jakarta.
"If the US strikes, they will lose significant value as a democratic country ... and we will protest." Muzadi said he had conveyed his stance to US Secretary of State Colin Powell when Washington's top diplomat visited Jakarta on August 2 and promised Indonesia $50 million to help its security forces fight terrorism.
In remarks that triggered worldwide unease, US Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday laid out the case for pre-emptive action against Iraq, warning of the danger of weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of terrorists.
US allies have called on Washington to give the United Nations and other international bodies a chance to try diplomacy before any military action. Asian giants India and China have opposed any attack.
Islam in Indonesia is overwhelmingly moderate but the country, home to 210 million people, is regarded as Southeast Asia's weakest link in the US-led war on terror.
Fears militant strains of Islam may take hold in the region have fuelled calls in Washington for more help for the vast archipelago, which has struggled to manage its chaotic transition to democracy after decades of authoritarianism.
Chief Security Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, also speaking on the sidelines of the seminar, reiterated Indonesia's stated policy to combat terrorism and said its root causes also had to be dealt with.
"Indonesia has an obligation to prevent terrorism ... It is crucial to bear in mind that dealing with terrorism is not about a particular organisation or individuals ... but we need to seek and touch the root of the problem," he told reporters.
"For instance ... we should also focus on issues such as poverty, the social gap between the rich and poor, injustice. I think these phenomena is very much related to terrorism."