Thousands of Indonesian Muslims rally demanding US pull out of Iraq, etc.

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2006/March/theworld_March97.xml§ion=theworld&col=

JAKARTA- Thousands of Muslims rallied peacefully in front of the tightly guarded US Embassy in Indonesia on Sunday, demanding American troops leave Iraq and Afghanistan and likening President George W. Bush to the devil.

But Sunday’s rally - organized by Hizbut Tharir, which has campaigned for an Islamic state in Indonesia since the 1920s - was peaceful. Of the 5,000 people who turned out, about half were women and children. snip

Indonesia is a moderate Islamic country with significant Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities. It has a long tradition of secularism, and is seen by Washington as a close ally in the war on terror.

The two nations have had close ties since the mid-1960s when a pro-US military dictatorship seized power in Jakarta. This was replaced by a democratic government in 1999.

[Poppyseedman]

1. "Thousands of Muslims rallied peacefully..."

Well, that really is news.

Imagine that, Muslims can protest without burning buildings and killing people.

Who would have thought?