Padang, W Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Interior Minister Gamawan Fauzi said he had yet to receive a letter from 27 US Congress members urging to revocation of the Joint Ministerial Decree (SKB) on the Ahmadiyah religious sect.

"Until today, I have yet to get the letter reportedly sent by 27 US Congress members to ask Indonesia to revoke the decree," Fauzi told newsmen after being awarded an honorary doctorate from Padang State University (UNP) here Friday.

He said he disbelieved that the US Congress had sent the letter because the Ahmadiyah sect was Indonesia`s internal matter.

Fauzi said the SKB would not be dissolved until there was a new permanent decision.

"The SKB is the best option we have to resolve the Ahmadiyah problem. If it were dissolved, it would cause a vacuum of law," he said.

On March 22, the government would hold a national dialogue about Ahmadiyah religious sect in response to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono`s order to the ministries for domestic and religious affairs and the Attorney General`s office to seek for the best solution to the Ahmadiyah problem, he said.

The Ahmadiyah sect has so far been banned in West Java and East Java provinces.

The West Java provincial government`s spokesman, Ruddy Gandakusumah, said recently that with the issuance of this regulation, all activities related to Ahmadiyah religious sect were outlawed and banned in West Java.

The calls for banning the Ahmadiyah sect`s teachings in Indonesia have repeatedly and consistently been echoed by various elements of Muslim society members in the country over the past few weeks.

On March 1, for instance, hundreds of Muslims, including those of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) staged a rally to demand the banning of the Ahmadiyah religious sect`s teachings in Indonesia.

FPI Chairman Habib Salim Alatas said, in solving this problem, President Yudhoyono was asked to issue a decree banning Ahmadiyah.

On February 18, a number of Islamic organizations and the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) in Banten had also asked the government to ban the Ahmadiyah sect in the province soon.

MUI, Nahdlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah, and Religious Followers` Harmony Forum (FKUB) in Banten Province had agreed to again call on the provincial government to ban all activities of the Ahmadiyah, he said.

A series of attacks on Ahmadiyah religious sect followers and their properties have occurred in some parts of Indonesia over the past two years.

The latest incident happened in Umbulan village Cikeusik subdistrict, Pandeglang district, Banten province, on February 6, killing three people. (*)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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