Thousands of Muslims rallied peacefully in front of the tightly guarded US Embassy in Indonesia yesterday, demanding US troops leave Iraq and Afghanistan and likening US President George W. Bush to the devil.
The protesters, many of whom were from the hardline group, Hizbut Tharir, were kept well away from the mission, which is ringed by two concrete walls and barbed wire. Some 2,000 police stood watch, and two water cannons were ready in case the rally turned violent.
"Out of Iraq," the protesters chanted, gathering for hours under the blazing tropical sun in the capital Jakarta. "Bush is a terrorist."
Anti-US sentiment in Indonesia -- the world's largest Muslim nation -- rose sharply after the 2001 and 2003 invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and anger at the US flared anew following the publication of Prophet Mohammed cartoons in mostly European newspapers.
Hundreds of hardline Muslims turned out for protests last month, some attacking the US Embassy with sticks and rocks.
But yesterday's rally -- organized by Hizbut Tharir, which has campaigned for an Islamic state in Indonesia since the 1920s -- was peaceful. Of the 5,000 people who turned out, about half were women and children.
US Embassy spokesman Max Kwak thanked Indonesian police for helping maintain order and said he respected the right of Indonesians to freedom of speech and assembly, "two of the pillars of democracy."
In addition to signs that said "Bush is Evil," protesters carried placards condemning Israel and New Orleans-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc, which is accused of large-scale environmental damage at the site of its biggest mine in Papua Province.
But the focus was on Iraq and Afghanistan.
"This is an example of real colonialism, there is no other reason for them to be [in Iraq]," protester Muhammad Ismail Yusanto told the gathering.
He demanded that the West "stop the propaganda campaign against Islam in the guise of the war on terrorism."
Last week, the US mission issued a warning to all Americans to maintain a low profile and to "exercise caution if caught in the vicinity of any demonstrations."
Indonesia is a moderate Islamic country with significant Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities. It has a long tradition of secularism, and is seen by Washington as a close ally in the war on terror.
The two nations have had close ties since the mid-1960s when a pro-US military dictatorship seized power in Jakarta. This was replaced by a democratic government in 1999.
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