Thousands wound through the streets of Jakarta and gathered at a grand mosque yesterday to protest US President George W. Bush's visit to the world's most populous Muslim nation, some chanting "War criminal" and "You are a terrorist!"
Bush's arrival today comes amid mounting anger over US policy in the Middle East and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan -- seen by many in Indonesia as attacks on their faith.
Talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a close ally in Washington's "war on terror," are expected to touch on those issues and on ways the US can help with poverty alleviation, education, health and investment.
PHOTO: AP
Security will be tight amid warnings that the threat of an attack by al-Qaeda-linked militants has "escalated sharply" in recent days, though it was not clear if a plot had been uncovered.
"The threat is higher," was all Major General Adang Firman, Jakarta's police chief, would tell reporters.
Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation and has more Muslims than any other in the world, with some 190 million believers.
Bush, who has been politically weakened at home after his party's stinging election defeat, is eager to strengthen bilateral relations.
During his last state visit in 2003, talks focussed largely on terrorism.
This time he is expected to solicit the government's advice about the Middle East crisis and the North Korean and Iranian nuclear disputes, something Jakarta is eager to offer after years on the diplomatic sidelines.
"Bush recognizes he has to change ... that in order to succeed he must cooperate with friends and allies abroad," said Jusuf Wanandi of the Jakarta-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"He sees now that unilateralism won't work," he added.
Islamic hardliners, students, housewives and taxi drivers have staged small but rowdy rallies every day this month and will be harder to convince.
Demonstrations climaxed yesterday, with nearly 13,000 turning out in the capital and vowing even bigger protests for Bush's 10-hour visit.
Nearly 10,000 Muslims dressed in white snarled traffic, some carrying banners that said "Punish Bush the war criminal" and "Bush: Wanted dead or alive for crimes against humanity."
One man dragged an effigy of the US president on the road behind him.
Others gathered at the al-Azhar mosque, Jakarta's second-largest, to hear speeches by Islamic leaders denouncing Bush and US foreign policy.
"Why is the US backing Israel, which has bombed Palestinian and Lebanon," Tiffatul Sembiring, president of the Justice and Prosperity Party, asked the crowd of 3,000 who spilled from the mosque into the courtyard
"Bush is a terrorist," he said to cheers. "He's killed people in Afghanistan and Iraq."
Yudhoyono, meanwhile, wants the US' help fighting poverty and a spiraling bird flu outbreak that has killed 56 people -- a third of the world's total.
He is also eager to see US investors return to his country, which remains desperately poor eight years after the ouster of former strongman Suharto.
But in seeking to win continued support, Indonesia's first directly elected leader has to find a way to avoid further angering Muslim parties and his political rivals who already accuse him of being subservient to the West.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS