"The US wants to increase the intervention it."Surabaya (ANTARA News) - Thousands of Moslems from the Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) in East Java staged a demonstration here on Saturday to protest the planned arrival of three US warships in the region on May 28.
US CG Waesche, USS Vandegrift FFG-48 and USS GPN LSD 42 with 831 personnel on board plan to arrive in Surabaya to conduct charity services on Madura island and participate in joint exercises with 1,244 Indonesian navy personnel in Situbondo on June 2-5.
One of the coordinators of the demonstration, Abdul Karim, said the arrival of the warships was a form of military intervention.
"Through it, the US wants to increase the intervention it has so far done in the fields of politics and economy," he said.
He noted that the US would not like its huge political and economic interests in Indonesia to be disturbed and, therefore, it wished to assure that their continuity is guaranteed and protected against any disruption or hurdles.
"This is actually the essence of the strategic arrival of the three US ships and the military exercise it is about to carry out," said another HTI executive, Khairi Sulaiman.
Khairi noted that with regard to these interests, HTI called for a practical, firm and clear stance so Indonesia will be freed from foreign intervention, especially from the US, since Moslems must seriously fight for the re-implementation of shariah and "khilafah" (Islamic government).
"It is only shariah that could really create goodness and freedom to replace secularism and capitalism, while khilafah will protect all Moslems, including Indonesians, from all kinds of foreign intervention," he said.
(T.A052/Uu.H-YH/INE/KR-BSR)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
