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Indonesian Police Use Water Canon, Tear Gas Against Anti-U.S. Protestors
JAKARTA, Oct 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Indonesian police used tear gas and water canons to disperse a large crowd of anti-U.S. protesters on Monday, sending fears there might be a broadening of a crackdown on protests in the country, sources said.
A crowd of several hundred people representing hardline religious groups refused to budge when police urged them to disperse.
Members of four Islamic groups protesting against the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan gathered outside the Indonesian Parliament's gates in a peaceful protest before police fired tear gas, water cannon and blank warning shots.
Ten people were arrested. Most of them belonging to the Islamic Popular Front (FPI), whose leader has been the most vocal anti-U.S. protestor to date.
Several cities in Indonesia have seen anti-U.S. protests in the past week, some violent, with attacks on U.S.-owned companies, while in Jakarta there were attempts to penetrate the U.S. embassy in order to chase out the occupants.
A large majority of Indonesians say they were against the U.S. attacks on a Muslim country, asking for concrete and irrefutable proof from the U.S. to support its accusations against Osama bin Laden.
Police also arrested 65 anti-U.S. Muslim protesters for possessing weapons, including short swords and slingshots, over the weekend. They were held as hundreds of people from Central Java arrived at a train station in Jakarta before protests planned for Monday.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to win the hearts and minds of anti-U.S. protestors, President Megawati Sukarnoputri hardened her stance against U.S. air strikes. On Sunday, the president said no country had the right to attack another nation in search for terrorists.
She did not mention any countries, but she was referring to the U.S. and Afghanistan. Vice President Hamzah Haz also severely condemned the attacks against the Taliban regime in Kabul.
Haz, in his capacity as chairman of the Muslim-based United Development Party (PPP), urged the U.S. on Saturday to stop its military campaign in Afghanistan.
Hamzah demanded that the U.S. produce convincing evidence that bin Laden was the mastermind behind the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
"It's a big question that remains unanswered," Hamzah said.
"If the military strikes are not stopped, how many more Afghan civilians will fall victim?" he said, when opening a PPP national conference at Millennium Hotel in Central Jakarta.
"As part of the nation, we in PPP must support the campaign against terrorism, but we are opposed to attacks on Afghanistan," he added.
He appeared at odds with the Megawati government over the U.S.-Indonesia relationship. Indonesia is a majority Muslim nation with 90% of its population of 212 million being of the Islamic faith.
Regular surveys on the Internet and other polls in local newspapers shows 85% of the population against the U.S. strikes on Afghanistan. One survey showed 70% agreed that the U.S. was a terrorist state and that Israel was also a terrorist state.
Many Indonesians regard bin Laden as a fighter for justice and support efforts by the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan to shelter him, according to a survey published by
Media Indonesia daily.
In results likely to surprise some, 50% of 2,400 respondents to the online survey last week said bin Laden was a "justice fighter". Less than 35% thought he was a terrorist. Of those surveyed, nearly half were university graduates.
The report said 56% believed the Taliban was "wise" in sheltering bin Laden.
With additional reporting by Kazi Mahmood
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