NU Rejects US Plan to Attack Iraq

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Hasyim Muzadi, Chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU), has said that the PBNU does not agree with and rejects the United States plan to attack Iraq. Muzadi made this comment during a meeting between religious figures and the British Minister of Foreign Affairs Jack Straw in Jakarta on Thursday (9/1). The NU does not agree with and rejects the US plan to attack Iraq, Hasyim said during a press conference after the meeting. He said that this decision was made at the national conference of ulamas held between December 25 and December 28 last year. Hasyim explained that the NU had made such a decision based on international ethics and human rights. According to Hasyim, formally the plan to attack Iraq must be based on the permission of the United Nations. And the assumption that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction must be proved first. Hasyim went on to say the PBNU conveyed its stance during its visit to England between September 29 and October 5 last year. At that time the PBNU met with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mike Obrain, Parliament Group on Indonesia, the British Council and the Executive Board of the Labor Party. However, Hasyim said, Indonesia has to cooperate with Western countries, including Britain, based on the principle of equal friendship. He said he believed the plan to attack Iraq would influence Indonesia, though he did not know how large the impact would be on Indonesia and the international community. Hasyim said that leaders of national moral movements will hold a meeting to take necessary measures if the plan is realized. (Faisal-Tempo News Room)