Jakarta – The Hizbut Tahir Indonesia (HTI) activists staged a peaceful rally with about 5,000 Indonesian Muslims against what they called "the conspiracy of colonizers in Aceh and Papua" here Sunday.

The rally was held at the Hotel Indonesia Circle, Central Jakarta, for four hours, starting from 8 a.m local time, the HTI Coordinator Irwan Saifullah said.

He said the main objective of the rally was to alert the entire nation of the evil will of countries with colonial mentality such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, in the two Indonesian provinces.

According to Saifullah, the cessation of Nangroe Aceh Darussalam (Aceh) and West Papua provinces was part of those countries' agenda. To weaken Indonesia, the countries used such ideological tools as secularism, liberalism, and pluralism, he added.

Regarding efforts to end a prolonged armed conflict in Aceh, the Indonesian government and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) will have signed a permanent peace agreement on August 15 in the Finland capital of Helsinki.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo AS was reported to lead the Indonesian delegation to the signing of a peace accord.

In the meantime, a dozen of American Congressmen have pushed their government to look into the legitimacy of the UN-plebiscite which concluded the will of Papuans to join the Unitary State of Indonesia had officially been held in 1960s.

The US Congress on June 9, 2005 approved a bill on Papua which if passed into law could increase international pressure on the Indonesian government to allow the people of Papua to vote whether to remain part of Indonesia or become an independent nation.

The bill asks the US secretary of state to file a report analyzing the 1969 Act of Free Choice within 180 days after the enactment of the bill.