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Antiwar rallies to go on nationwide

Jakarta Post - April 9, 2003

Jakarta -- With the war in Iraq moving closer to its third week old, anti-American protesters in the country displayed no signs of fatigue as they continued to voice their demand for an end to the US-led attack.

In Jakarta, 10 Iraqi refugees staged a rally in front of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Representative Office on Jl. Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta. The protesters urged the UNHCR to return them to Iraq to allow them join their compatriots put up a fight against the coalition forces.

"We watch the war on television every day, sparking our deep concern of manslaughter in Iraq. We cannot help to return home to join the struggle alongside Iraqi people against the US-led coalition," said the protesters.

Hundreds of Iraqi refugees have been in Indonesia to obtain political asylum. Most of them fled the regime of incumbent President Saddam Hussein.

Meanwhile, in the West Java capital of Bandung, around 300 protesters of the Indonesian Muslim Youth held anti-war rally outside the West Java City Council Office on Jl. Diponegoro. The protesters called on the dissolution of the United Nations for the international institution's failure to prevent the outbreak of the war in Iraq.

"We urge the dissolution of the United Nations as they are proven ineffectual to prevent the war. Instead, the Non Aligned Movement can be revived to replace its role," said the protesters.

In Yogyakarta, at least 500 students of the Sunan Kalijaga Islamic University, marched from their campus to the city's post office on Jl. Senopati.

Those students stopped for 15 minutes in front of the American franchised fast food outlet McDonald's on Jl. Malioboro, to call for a boycott of the US products. Hundreds of students of the Ibnu Khaldun University in Bogor, West Java, rallied in front of the Bogor City Hall to protest the US led strike on Iraq.

The protesters berated military action against Iraq which is against the principle of sovereignty. The military incursion in Iraq has incited worldwide condemnation.

At home, the wave of demonstrations will heat up in the next days due to swelling number of war victims in Iraq. The United Development Party of Reform said earlier that it plans to hold a massive anti-war demonstration on Wednesday. The demonstration which will be led by popular Muslim cleric Zainuddin M.Z. who also chairs the party, expects around one thousand of protesters taking part in the rally.

Meanwhile, the National Democratic Party (PDK) of South Sulawesi announced plans to hold a mass prayer for the Iraqi people on Thursday evening at the Mandala Monument in the provincial capital of Makassar. The event's organizer, Harly Weku, said nearly 1,000 of the party members would participate in the prayer, which will be attended by the party deputy chairman Andi Alfian Mallarangeng. Religious leaders, including from Islam, Christian, Hindu, and Buddhism, will recite the prayer.

The largest antiwar rally was held in Jakarta on March 30, involving hundreds of thousands of people from various groups and faiths.