Ezra Sihite & Hangga Brata – Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi asked the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front not to rush to open branches in Central Kalimantan following protests from Dayak tribesmen against the group's presence there.

"They should talk to local officials so that there will be no conflicts," Gamawan said.

Earlier, a leader from the religious group known as FPI, Muhsin Ahmad Alatas, said the organization would proceed with opening branches in the province despite the outcry.

In Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, police said they had received many requests to reject the FPI in the province. "There are 20 groups that have demanded that we ban FPI in the province. We just want to be sensitive to what the people want us to do.

So we advise FPI not to open branches here," Central Kalimantan Police chief Brig. Gen. Daminanus Jacky said. He said the FPI has a right to be present in Central Kalimantan, but the province's residents have an equal right to reject them.

On Saturday, Dayak tribesmen protested at Tjilik Riwut airport in Palangkaraya, hoping to stop FPI members from landing to attend the opening ceremony of an FPI branch office there.

The protest halted operations at the airport for more than two hours. Airport officials eventually redirected the plane, which was carrying several FPI dignitaries, to an alternate location.

Many have lauded the Dayak's weekend stand against the FPI, with some saying it should spur other groups to speak out against religious intolerance.

On Thursday, however, some radical Islamic organizations in Solo staged a counter-rally, rejecting calls to disband the FPI, and blasting Central Kalimantan Governor Agustin Teras Narang and provincial police for supporting the FPI's rejection.

"We need FPI to prevent the nation from sinning," said Edy Lukito, one of the demonstrators. "Calls to disband FPI have been voiced by secular groups wanting to destroy the youth."

[Additional reporting from Antara.]