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Muslim
Leaders' Call For Calm Over U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Statements
By Kazi Mahmood, IOL
South East Asia Correspondent
JAKARTA,
March 25 (IslamOnline) - Mainstream Islamic leaders called Monday on
the country's Muslims not to be angered over U.S. Deputy Defense
Secretary Paul Wolfowitz's statements on the presence of suspected
Al-Qaeda cells in Indonesia.
They
said all such allegations had yet to be backed up by concrete evidence
and that the U.S. and Indonesia had to build a "strong working
relationship" in order to gather solid evidence on the presence
of Al-Qaeda cells in the country.
The
Jakarta Post, the only English newspaper in Indonesia, quoted Hasyim
Muzadi, chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia's largest
Muslim organization, as saying on Sunday cooperation was needed to
fight terror.
He
added that Interpol and the intelligence forces of the U.S. and
Indonesia should work together on these issues.
"The
job of the leaders of Muslim organizations in Indonesia is to ensure
that their organizations' followers are not easily provoked or involve
themselves in violence," Hasyim told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Wolfowitz
had earlier said that the presence of suspected Al-Qaeda cells in
Indonesia had led to a situation that created "much more of a law
enforcement challenge."
He
also said that he did not rule out the possibility of joint military
training for counter terrorist operations involving Indonesian and
U.S. forces.
Muslim
leaders in Indonesia fear that Wolfowitz's statements could provoke a
major backlash against U.S. interests in Indonesia, the world's
largest Muslim country, as many world Muslim leaders warn that the
harsh measures, taken by the U.S. military in Afghanistan, could shift
to a war against Islam.
Hasyim
asserted Sunday that the Muslim community in Indonesia would not
tolerate military intervention by the U.S. or "baseless"
arrests of Muslim leaders in Indonesia without adequate evidence.
"Any
accusations or charges made by the U.S. regarding the presence of
terrorist groups in Indonesia must be proved first before any action
is taken," he said.
"Indonesia
won't tolerate foreign intervention. That would unnecessarily force
moderate Muslims in Indonesia to take radical measures."
Indonesia
has come under the spotlight in the war against terrorism after a
number of its citizens were arrested overseas for alleged links to
Al-Qaeda. 
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