Indonesian Muslim protesters burn an effigy of Bush

By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR, April 11 (IslamOnline.net) - The conquest of Baghdad by the invading forces and the scenes of jubilation in parts of the capital city of Iraq have not deterred the Muslims in South East Asia in condemning the U.S. for its attack on Iraq.

Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri delivered a solemn salute to the Iraqis, who fought to their death against the U.S. invasion, adding that she deplored the attack on Iraq, said the Antara news agency on Thursday, April 10, 2003.

Megawati praised the Iraqi people for their dedication to defending their nation against the U.S.-led invasion but was surprised by the swift turn of events in the capital city of the Middle Eastern nation.

"What we are looking at is not the political issues, rather we are seeing a nation dedicated to defending itself," Megawati said according to Antara.

Her comments came after the U.S. military had entered Baghdad’s city center and the government of Saddam Hussein had already given up its hold on the city.

Several top political figures in Indonesia also felt the war would not end on a Wednesday morning in Baghdad, saying they believed the war will drag on and was calling on the U.S. to withdraw from Iraq.

In Malaysia, there were no official comments on the end of the Saddam regime while officials focused their attention on aid to Iraq in the post war era.

Aid To The Iraqis

The Malaysian People's Alliance for Peace (Peace Malaysia) collected more than RM1.5 million (U.S.350,000) for the Iraqi People's Humanitarian Fund in two weeks, its patron Minister of Sports Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said on Wednesday.

He said the fund launched spontaneously in aid of the Iraqis received overwhelming response from people of all races, reported the Bernama News agency.

Malaysians condemned in the strongest terms the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and would help Iraqis in whatever way possible, Hishammuddin, who said.

On the streets of Kuala Lumpur, anti-American sentiments still runs high with many people condemning the way the U.S. dealt with the Iraq issue.

Such anti-U.S. resentment has seldom been seen in the Malaysian capital, with officials and the public in general expressing their apathy for a grinning Donald Rumsfield on cable Television after the Baghdad debacle.

The Malaysian government however maintains its position that the war on Iraq was an illegal action by the U.S. despite acknowledging that the country still needed to enhance business deals with the belligerent U.S. nation.

'UN Role'

In the Philippines, the press is still wondering on the role of the UN after the war on Iraq saying it is not the U.S. that should run Iraq.

An editorial in the Philippine Star indicated that Iraq could quickly fall into lawlessness with the crashing of the Saddam regime.

The editor said it was now the task of the UN to help the coalition forces in peace keeping in the streets of Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq.

The newspaper added that for all the cheering in Baghdad and Northern Iraq, the years of sanctions have made the U.S. unpopular.

Megawati’s comments on the Iraq also showed the deep anti-U.S. sentiments in Indonesia, a country that largely depends on U.S. aid for its economic recovery.

Protesters from a wide variety of backgrounds took part in nationwide antiwar demonstrations long before the invasion began.

Despite the growing optimism on the U.S. and British side of a "well earned" victory in Iraq, political analysts in Indonesia said anti-American sentiment was likely to linger in South East Asia.

Jungle Law

Megawati expressed disappointment on Monday with the diminishing role of the United Nations in international affairs, and over what she called the return of "jungle law".

Last week Indonesian Vice President Hamzah Haz called U.S. President George W. Bush the "king of terrorists".

On Wednesday, some 600 people rallied outside the U.S. embassy, torching an effigy of a gun-toting Bush and describing the war in Iraq as genocide.

"Drag Bush and Blair to an international tribunal" and "Stop genocide in Iraq," read some of the placards displayed by the protesters, from a faction of the largest Islamic political party the United Development Party, the Crescent Reform Party which was led preacher Zainuddin MZ.

"Bush is a war criminal who is killing women and children in Iraq," one protester shouted through a megaphone.