Today’s demonstration in Indonesia is the biggest anti-American protest yet in the world’s most populous Muslim country

By Kazi Mahmood, IOL South East Asia correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR, February 9 (IslamOnline) – One hundred thousand people, mostly supporters of the Justice Party (PK), an opposition party - demonstrated against the United States Sunday morning, February 9, wearing white and carrying banners calling for peace in Iraq.

The PK has organized many successful anti-U.S. rallies in Jakarta and other cities in the past few months in an attempt to persuade the Indonesian government to take a strong anti-war stance with the United States.

Carrying banners reading “Save Peace and Humanity” and “Stop War on Iraq”, the demonstrators started the march in the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, Central Jakarta, where the British embassy is located, Antara news agency reported.

The president of the Justice Party, Hidayat Nurawahid, said that the demonstration was an attempt to stop U.S.-led plan to attack Iraq.

“It seems that U.S. President George Bush is afraid of losing face if he fails to attack Iraq,” he was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.

The protesters later headed to the United Nations office and the United States embassy.

Both embassies had already increased their security in advance, knowing there will be a massive protest over the issue of war on Iraq.

Hidayat guaranteed that the demonstration would end peacefully, without any scuffles with the police and without any threats made against the two embassies.

“None of our supporters are allowed to litter the road,” he said, adding that the protesters would end the demonstration by holding a mass prayer in the nearby Istiqlal Mosque.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country with 90 percent of the population claiming to be of Islamic faith, has repeatedly opposed the U.S. plan to attack against Iraq without the U.N.’s approval.

However its government, especially President Megawati Sukarnoputri, has been accused of not being firm enough against the U.S.

Observers in Jakarta believe that Indonesia could press the U.S. further into revising its plans over Iraq and in finding a peaceful solution to the standoff between the super power and the embattled Muslim nation in the Middle East.

Many supporters of the PK said they participated in the rally, which is said to be the largest rally to date in Indonesia in 2003, in support of the people of Iraq whom they believe are the main victims of the standoff.

Hidayat said the U.S. had to practice what it was imposing on Iraq, that is to limit its own weapons of mass destruction.

He added that Israel too should be subjected to the same treatment as Iraq so that the cruelty of this nation against the Palestinians would end altogether.

The PK also accused the Megawati regime of siphoning the International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Bank (WB) funds, which it said did not reach the people in general.

The party believes the silence of the Indonesian government over the impending Iraq war was linked to the IMF-WB loans to Indonesia.

“Megawati is worst than [Philippines President] Arroyo,” the president of the PK when he compared the stance of Megawati and Arroyo on international issues.