"America and its antics are not allowed to set foot on any Muslim country," chanted Indonesian protesters

Kazi Mahmood, IOL Correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR, January 26 (IslamOnline) - Thousands of Indonesians members of the Hizbut Tahrir (HT) Islamic group marched in front of the United States and British embassies in Jakarta on Sunday, January 26, to protest their proposed joint assault on Iraq.

Muhammad Rahman, leading the rally, said that the 7000 people who gathered in protest of the looming war against Iraq were showing their solidarity to a fellow  Muslim country, reported the Republika newspaper.

The Jakarta Police had earlier erected barricades in front of the embassies in order to prevent the situation to go out of control.

The huge crowd amassed in front of the embassies to shout their slogans and call for a change of heart of the U.S. and British governments.

There were no traffic disruptions as the rally was peaceful and the protestors dispersed after their show of force.

The HT leader stressed that U.S. propaganda supporting the launch of a strike against Iraq reflects a new imperialism to form a puppet administration in Iraq.

The group accused the U.S. of plotting to control the abundant oil reserves in the Gulf region by launching an attack on Iraq.

Wearing black and white juba and ‘serbans’ (head gear), many of the demonstrators had head bands with the Kalima Shahadat (Act of Islamic Faith) written on it.

"America and its antics are not allowed to set foot on any Muslim country," chanted the crowd in support of Iraq.

They added the famous HT line in the chants, saying "Muslims will do Jihad to oppose the US."

The demonstrators, however, made it clear they did not support the regime of Saddam Hussein, but they were concerned about the fate of the Muslims in Iraq.

They called on the Indonesian government to show more aggressiveness in its opposition to the U.S. intentions towards Iraq.

In the mean time, a total of 25 Indonesian citizens, including ten women, 14 children and one local staff, were evacuated from Baghdad, on Wednesday, January 22, reported the Antara news agency.

There were 31 Indonesians living in Iraq (all of them are living in Baghdad), while there are around 37,000 Indonesian citizens living in the Middle East region, according to Tempo magazine.

The 25 Indonesians were evacuated over fear of a U.S.-led  war on Iraq while Indonesian embassies in the Middle East urged Jakarta to stop sending Indonesian workers to the region.

Thousands of Indonesian workers fly from Jakarta to Abu Dhabi and Dubai before being sent to other Arab states in the region, working as house maids or workers in various sectors.

The Indonesian government is still preparing the evacuation of other Indonesian citizens who are still living in Baghdad.

The Indonesian government has given clear indications that it believes the U.S. will definitely attack Baghdad though it did not give a definite date for the envisaged war.

Indonesian officials are currently working hard with U.S. representatives in Jakarta in a bid to avert the war on the embattled Muslim nation,  media sources told IslamOnline.