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| Indonesian Islamists protest Obama visit |
| News - Hizb ut-Tahrir |
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JAKARTA, Indonesia — Members of a hardline Muslim group have protested outside the U.S. Embassy against President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to Indonesia. More than 1,000 members of Hizbut Tahrir rallied outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta on Sunday. One of the banners and posters on display read: “Reject Obama, reject capitalism and imperialism.” Another protest of about 800 people was held in Indonesia’s second-largest city of Surabaya.
Obama is coming to Indonesia to attend the East Asia Summit in Bali. Washington has put its stamp on the summit agenda in the area of security, including halting the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Hizbut Tahrir accused Washington of having a hidden agenda to urge other countries to unite against China to guarantee U.S. domination in the South China Sea. Hundreds of Indonesian Islamists have rallied in central Jakarta to protest against this week's visit by U.S. President Barack Obama. About 2500 protesters from the radical Muslim group Hizbut Tahrir shouted "Reject Obama" and "America is Terrorist" outside the U.S. embassy on Sunday as they brandished banners with slogans such as "Reject Obama, Reject Capitalism, Reject Imperialism". "We strongly oppose America and Obama coming to Indonesia," the group's spokesman Mujiyanto told AFP. "Obama is a murderer of our Muslim brothers in Palestine and Afghanistan, a thief of Indonesia's natural resources, and an imperialist who seeks to take over the world and will do anything for U.S. interests." Similar protests were also held Sunday in other cities, including Surabaya in East Java and Makassar in South Sulawesi. Obama will be in Indonesia for the 18-nation East Asia Summit at the end of the week. The 10-member Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, with observing nations including the US attending, is also taking place this week. The delegates are meeting to discuss major regional issues such as territorial clashes in the South China Sea and Burma's bid to take over Indonesia's role as ASEAN chair in 2014. Radical groups like Hizbut Tahrir have little popular support in the archipelago of 240 million people. Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority country in the world, is constitutionally secular and culturally moderate. 14th November 2011 Source: Tehran Times |