Bush's visit to Indonesia draws protests across nation

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, October 23, 2003

Bush's visit to Indonesia draws protests across nation

The brief visit by US President George W. Bush to Indonesia on Wednesday drew protests from prominent Muslim leaders, students and political activists in many places in the country.

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The brief visit by US President George W. Bush to Indonesia on Wednesday drew protests from prominent Muslim leaders, students and political activists in many places in the country.

Protests erupted in Jakarta, Bengkulu province, Bandung the capital of West Java province, the special autonomy province of Yogyakarta, Bali province and Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province.

In the capital city of Jakarta, over 1,000 protesters, including prominent Muslim leaders, political leaders, students and political activists gathered in the yard of the Proclamation Monument in the Central Jakarta district. They issued a statement, rejecting Bush's visit to Indonesia and any type of terrorism.

"We strongly criticize the US authoritarianism, double standard policies and unfairness in the states relationships," said HidayatNur Wahid, chairman of a political party.

A prominent Muslim leader Nurcholis Madjid said President Bush launched military actions in Iraq, which were seriously against humanity.

"Bush has to be isolated from the international community," he added.

Meanwhile, some 200 university students staged a rally in front of the US embassy here, strongly condemning President Bush and burned the US national flag.

In Bandung, hundreds of students from the Indonesian Muslim Student Action Union (KAMMI) marched in protest against Bush's visit.

"Say No To Bush,"said a banner.

Bush made a brief stopover in the resort island of Bali on Wednesday en route to Australia.

Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country, which nearly 90 percent of its 214 million population are Muslims.

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