Indonesia officially backs Washing-ton's war on terror. With a spate of devastating bombings carried out on its soil by its own al-Qaeda-linked extremist network, Jemaah Islamiyah, it has good reason to do so.
But then listen to Indonesia's Vice President Hamzah Haz.
He's recently described America as "the king of terrorists." After Sept. 11, 2001 he said the attacks in New York and Washington would serve to "cleanse the sins of the United States."
Haz, a heartbeat away from his country's top job, leads the largest Islamic political party in the world's most populous Islamic nation.
He has two official wives as well as 12 children. He has backed calls for the introduction of Islamic Shariah law even though Indonesia's secular constitution guarantees freedoms for other religions.
With an election due next year, he's embarked on an anti-US warpath -- a move analysts say is aimed at winning over hardline Muslim voters regardless of the diplomatic and security fallout.
In his run for the presidency, he seeks support from those who oppose US-led military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as its perceived support for Israel against the Palestinians.
Haz did not respond to a request for an interview.
Opinion polls place Haz in fifth place behind other presidential candidates, including secularist President Megawati Sukarnoputri who signed up to US President George W. Bush's anti-terror effort within days of Sept. 11, but has criticized the US takeover of Iraq.
She is almost certain to discuss the war on terror when she meets Bush at an Asia Pacific leaders summit in Thailand next month.
Commentators are divided about Haz's chances.
"His popularity is decreasing," said Rahadi Wiratama from the Center for Development and Democracy, a private research group in Jakarta.
But Haz heads "a well-oiled political machine. He can still use that to forge ahead," said Dede Oetomo, an independent political analyst.
Haz, 63, leads the United Development Party, a grouping created in the 1970s by former dictator Suharto.
Designated at the time as the only legal Muslim party, it regularly participated in stage-managed elections to give an aura of legitimacy to the US-backed regime.
Suharto was forced to quit amid pro-democracy protests and riots in 1998. Haz, who was a high profile lawmaker under Suharto, stayed clear of the uprising. Even so, he prospered politically because of it.
When dozens of new Islamic parties sprang up to contest a general election in June 1999, none garnered as many votes as Haz's party, which came in third behind Megawati's nationalist party.
Indonesia's top legislature selected Haz as vice president immediately after it endorsed Megawati as president in 2001. Under the constitution, Haz would replace Megawati if she were unable to continue in office. Megawati herself replaced Abdurrahman Wahid, a moderate Muslim leader, when he was forced to quit for alleged incompetence.
Since then electoral rules have been changed. Next year's ballot will be the first time that Indonesians directly vote in their head of state.
Analysts say Haz is trying to boost his sagging popularity. He's burnishing his Islamic credentials and distancing himself from Megawati, whose star has faded as she grapples with massive economic and social problems.
"He is back to playing his old cards. He can't risk losing the support of the more radical groups," said Arbi Sanit, a politics professor at the University of Indonesia.
A regular visitor to Saudi Arabia, Haz this month visited five states in the Middle East. He's also known for populist speeches that please Muslim activists, but make US diplomats fume.
A little under 90 percent of Indonesia's 210 million people are Muslims, and while most follow a moderate path, a growing number are taking a more conservative approach to their religion and a tiny minority dabble in extremism.
Soon after becoming Megawati's deputy, Haz raised eyebrows by insisting that Indonesia was free of terrorists even though the US and worried neighboring countries raised fears that al-Qaeda was enjoying growing influence.
Haz's illusion was shattered tragically on Oct. 12 when 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, were killed in two bomb blasts on the island of Bali.
Police blame Jemaah Islamiyah, which purportedly wants to set up an Islamic state across Southeast Asia. Two of its alleged members have now been sentenced to death under tough new anti-terrorism laws. Dozens more suspects face trial.
In the aftermath of the Bali atrocity -- the world's worst terrorist attack since Sept. 11 -- Haz fell uncharacteristically silent.
Before the Bali attacks, he had publicly defended Muslim radicals, including cleric Abu Bakar Bashir -- who is accused by the West of being Jemaah Islamiyah's spiritual leader.
An Indonesian court this month jailed Bashir for four years for being part of a plot to destabilize Megawati's government.
A few weeks earlier, another blast -- blamed on a suspected Jemaah Islamiyah suicide bomber -- ripped through Jakarta's J.W. Marriott Hotel, killing 12 people.
When foreign governments and groups criticized Indonesia over the leniency of Bashir's punishment, Haz ended his long silence and hit back: "Actually, who is the real terrorist? Who is anti-human rights? The answer is the US. They attacked Iraq ... It [the US] is the king of terrorists," Haz said.
"The US has also supported Israel in its occupation of Palestine while Indonesia has been blamed for harboring terrorists," he said. "I have been labeled the terrorists' protector."
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