Jakarta – Hundreds of protesters from the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) attacked the US Embassy on Sunday during a rally accusing Washington of masterminding the controversy about cartoons of Prophet Muhammad to destroy Islam.
The rally began at about 10 a.m., with demonstrators shouting anti-US chants and holding placards, including one with the statement "freedom of expression" above US President George W. Bush depicted as a pig.
However, in what US Ambassador B. Lynn Pascoe later called a "premeditated act of thuggery" to garner media attention, the group – estimated at 400-strong by wire services – began hurling stones and traffic cones at the windows of embassy security posts outside the compound's gates. Others set fire to the US flag and posters of Bush.
Although no injuries were reported, Sunday's protest was one of the most violent here against the publication of cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad in Denmark last September. They have since been reprinted in many media around the world.
The protesters also demanded the destruction of a relief which they said depicted the Prophet holding a Koran in one hand and a sword in the other at the US Supreme Court.
The sculpture is part of a marble frieze depicting 18 influential lawgivers, including Moses, Confucius and Charlemagne, The Associated Press reported.
Gambir Police chief Comr. Victor Hutabarat admitted the police were taken by surprise by the number of protesters. "They outnumbered the officers deployed to guard the rally. Of course, they won't get away with this. We will conduct an investigation based on damage to property," he said.
Pascoe said in a statement the rally was a deliberate act to draw media attention and affect bilateral relations by attempting to inflame popular opinion. "This sort of thuggery is unacceptable and needs to be treated as what it is. We are confident that their efforts will fail, and we share President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's statements and commitment that the cartoon issue should not be used as a wedge between cultures," he said.
In one of the earliest protests here, at least 30 FPI members rallied at the Danish Embassy in Jakarta early this month to demand the embassy apologize for the printing of the cartoons by Jyllands-Posten newspaper. Groups of Muslims in Surabaya also protested in front of the US consulate about the issue, although mainstream US media has not printed the cartoons.
At least 10 members of the Indonesian Mujahidin Council also went to the Danish Embassy and demanded Copenhagen punish anyone involved in making the cartoons or publishing them. Three of the protesters met with the Danish ambassador. The Danish mission has temporarily left the country.