Salim Osman – Presidential front runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is now the target of a hate campaign to discredit his Muslim credentials.

Having become such a thorn in the side of his rivals because of his soaring popularity, he has been forced to fend off mudslinging that touches on religion.

His detractors describe him as a "poor Muslim" who has surrounded himself with Christians and is backed by Washington. They also charge that his wife is a Muslim convert.

The aim is to block any inroads he might make into the Muslim bloc. But Mr Bambang is taking all the attacks in his stride. He is now playing to the Muslim gallery by forging rapport with religious leaders, visiting Islamic boarding schools and even performing the umrah, the minor pilgrimage to Mecca.

He has even assigned his running mate Jusuf Kalla, whose late father was an elected parliamentarian from the Nadhlatul Ulama (NU) party in 1955, to work the Muslim ground.

But the smear campaign does seem to be having some results. Political analyst Amir Santoso of the University of Indonesia said that several Muslim groups are keeping their distance from Mr Bambang because of the rumours and his apparent opposition to moves to implement Islamic Syariah law in the country.

In recent weeks, opinion makers in mosques and religious schools across the country, especially in Java, have been speaking of Mr Bambang's links with Christians to dissuade Muslims from voting for him.

There is also unease among hardliners that a number of his backers are from Manado in North Sulawesi, a mainly Christian province. Radical magazines like Sabili, which featured him on its cover recently, have portrayed him as an American stooge. Indeed, one rumour making the rounds is that Mr Bambang had received US$50 million from the US.

Dr Indria Samego of the Indonesian Institute for Social Sciences told The Straits Times: "Despite Mr Bambang's popularity nationwide, his rivals are trying to cast aspersions on his religious credentials, suggesting that he has an image of an Abangan, or nominal Muslim, who can be easily influenced by other religions."

But the 54-year-old retired general is taking his detractors head on. During a visit to an Islamic boarding school in Madura, East Java, on Monday, Mr Bambang dismissed the allegations, saying that he was "not a foreign puppet and would never accept money from sinful activities".