Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Police arrested at least 27 Muslim activists in Bandung on Friday for targeting foreigners during a protest against the depiction of the Prophet Muhammad in cartoons first published by a Danish newspaper.

Muhammad Mukmin, the coordinator of the Anti-Apostasy Movement, a group involved in shutting down churches in West Java, was among those arrested, along with activists from the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and other hard-line groups.

Police made the arrests outside the Holiday Inn Hotel on Jl. Juanda, Bandung, where the activists were searching for foreigners so they could distribute questionnaires to them. "We just want to give out questionnaires containing five questions to survey (foreigners') opinions about the publication of the cartoons, about the stigma put on Muslims as terrorists, and about whether the media should be punished for publishing the cartoons," Mukim said.

"If they support the cartoons, we will have no other choice but to ask them to leave Indonesia," Mukmin said before being arrested. Mukmin said the protesters had no plan to target foreigners after collecting data on them.

After the activists were detained a minor scuffle broke out when some refused to get into two trucks that were to take them to the Bandung Police headquarters. Police quelled the scuffle and the activists boarded the trucks.

Mukmin said the protesters had planned to go to the Homann Hotel on Jl. Asia Afrika after the Holiday Inn.

The arrests were made after the groups' leaders organized a public rally to protest the publication of the cartoons. Thousands of people from Bandung and neighboring areas joined the event.

The demonstrators marched to the Holiday Inn in two groups. Both were blocked from entering the hotel by hundreds of police officers, headed by Central Bandung Police chief Adj. Sr. Com. Masguntur Laupe.

"They have no authority to survey people like this. Who are they? What if everyone could do this to foreigners? How would this affect business?" Masguntur said.

Bandung Police chief Sr. Com. Edmon Ilyas said the activists were arrested for violating the 1998 Law on Public Gatherings because they did not have a permit to march. Their attempt to target foreigners meant they would be charged under the Criminal Code for disorderly behavior, he said.

Mukmin said he had sent a notification letter to the Bandung Police and the West Java Police headquarters about the demonstration on Friday morning.