Indonesia Leader Urges End to Strikes
By DANIEL COONEY
Associated Press Writer
JAKARTA, Indonesia - After days of anti-U.S. street protests, Indonesia's vice president on Saturday urged Washington to stop bombing Afghanistan, a news report said.
Vice President Hamzah Haz also claimed the United States had not yet produced evidence that prime suspect Osama bin Laden was responsible for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
"I urge the United States to stop the attacks on Afghanistan," Hamzah was quoted as saying by the state Antara news agency. "If they don't, there will be more civilian casualties."
His comments appear at odds with a stand taken by President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who on Friday said Indonesia _ the world's most populous Muslim nation _ remained committed to the international war on terrorism.
Unlike, Hamzah, she refused to follow demands by some legislators and protesters to condemn the U.S.-led attacks. Instead, she has only promised to monitor the situation in Afghanistan.
Speaking at a meeting of his Muslim-oriented United Development Party on Saturday, Hamzah said the Indonesian government had yet to see evidence that bin Laden was behind the Washington and New York attacks.
"That is a big question that is yet to be answered," he said in regards to who was responsible.
U.S. Embassy officials in Jakarta have said they have presented the Indonesian government with evidence that implicates bin Laden.
It was not the first time that Hamzah, who heads Indonesia's largest Islamic political party, has appeared to run against government policy toward the global terrorism threat.
Soon after Megawati condemned the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, he said the suicide attacks could serve to "cleanse the sins" of the United States.
On Saturday, Hamzah said he did not want anti-American demonstrations banned in Indonesia, but called on protesters not to break the law.
There have been near-daily anti-U.S. protests in several Indonesian cities including Jakarta, where police have used tear gas and water cannons to break them up.
Groups of hardline activists have threatened to burn the U.S. Embassy and round up Westerners. Indonesian police have promised to protect foreigners.
Jakarta and other cities were quiet on Saturday. Protest organizers said they would restart their anti-American campaign next week.
About 85 percent of Indonesia's 210 million people are Muslim.
In a sign of growing concern at anti-American sentiment, several McDonalds fast food restaurants have had their employees wear traditional Muslim clothes, including head shawls for women.
In Makassar, on the island of Sulawesi on Friday, a small bomb exploded outside a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant.
Meanwhile in the Javanese city of Yogyakarta, a small bomb exploded outside a Catholic church early Saturday morning, said police Sgt. Sapto, who like many Indonesians uses only one name.
No one was injured in the blast and the church was only slightly damaged.
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