Indonesian police detain militants for rally attacks

INDONESIA: Indonesian police said they had detained 57 members of a hardline Islamic group for questioning on Wednesday morning following an attack on an interfaith rally in Jakarta on Sunday.

Police rounded up several members of the Islamic Defenders' Front (FPI) at the group's headquarters and at several houses in Jakarta early on Wednesday morning, saying that some of them were suspected of being involved in the attacks.

"We have detained 57, including their leader," Abubakar Nataprawira, national police spokesman, told Reuters. "Then we can figure out how many of them are suspects." About a dozen people were injured on Sunday when FPI supporters wielding bamboo sticks attacked members of the National Alliance for Freedom of Religion and Faith.

The Alliance's members include moderates such as former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, also known as Gus Dur. Artists, scholars and interfaith leaders were among those who gathered in support of religious tolerance.

FPI supporters attacked the rally after some speakers at the rally urged tolerance over the treatment of Ahmadiyya, an Islamic sect that some Indonesians consider "deviant". Outbreaks of violence over religious issues have become more common in recent months in Indonesia, particularly over the treatment of Ahmadiyya.

Militant Muslim groups have attacked mosques and buildings associated with Ahmadiyya, and are lobbying the government to outlaw the sect. The assault by members of FPI - which is well-known for its attacks on bars and nightclubs in Indonesia during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan - has provoked an outcry among moderates.

Sunday's rally was intended to celebrate the anniversary of Pancasila, an Indonesian philosophy marked by belief in one God which was promoted by the country's founding president, Sukarno. Around 85 percent of the 226 million people in Indonesia are Muslims, and most are moderate.

Jakarta, Wednesday, Reuters