Protesters demonstrated in three Indonesian cities Wednesday against any attack by Washington on Afghanistan in retaliation for the September 11 terrorist strikes in the United States.
In Jakarta some 40 students from the "Committee to Reject the US Invasion of Afghanistan" rallied outside the US embassy -- the scene of almost daily protests recently.
The students displayed posters reading "America, stop oppressing the world" and "Invasion of Afghanistan: US terrorism" before moving on to the United Nations mission nearby.
Another group, from the United Action of Indonesian Muslim Students, protested outside the Australian embassy over a recent arson attack on a mosque in Brisbane.
A branch of the same organization held a rally on the campus of the state Gajah Mada university at Yogyakarta in Central Java during which the US and Israeli flags were burned, the Detikcom news web site said.
Some 300 members carried posters with messages including "Zionists the mastermind of the destruction of the WTC [World Trade Center]" and "War in Afghanistan, Jihad will erupt."
In Bandung, the capital of West Java, some 500 students from various Muslim youth organizations took to the streets to protest against the United States, Detikcom said.
There have been numerous relatively small-scale protests in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-populated nation, against any US plans to attack Afghanistan.
Osama bin Laden, Washington's main suspect in the attacks, is believed to be hiding in Taliban-run Afghanistan.
Several hard-line Muslim groups have threatened to forcibly expel American citizens in Indonesia if any attack takes place. The government has promised to protect foreign nationals -- JAKARTA (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
