Jakarta, NU Online
Executives of the country's two largest Muslim organizations have denied any knowledge of a delegation of Indonesian Muslim clerics to Israel that meet with President Shimon Peres last week.
Din Syamsuddin, chairman of Indonesia's second largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah, said he knew nothing about the meeting or who had attended it.<>
"I haven't been following the reports. I don't know who went (to Israel). But, as a matter of fact, I would like to know," Din said Sunday evening in a phone interview with The Jakarta Post.
Meanwhile, Ghozi Hasyim, a representative of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), said he was unaware of any such meeting, and denied that his organization had been involved.
"I didn't know there was an invitation from Israel. As far as I know, there were no representatives from NU," Ghozi told the Post by phone Sunday.
The Associated Press had earlier reported that President Peres hosted a delegation of Muslim religious leaders Friday, whom it was claimed represented 70 million Indonesian Muslims.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, currently does not have diplomatic ties with Israel.
The delegation was said to have visited Peres as representatives of the moderate face of Islam, which sought cooperation and peace with other countries and religions.
Zannuba "Yenny" Arifah Chafsoh Rahman Wahid, the daughter of former president and ex NU chairman Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, said her father was not among the Indonesian participants at the meeting.
"No, he did not leave for Israel. He was in Jakarta," she told the Post.
Gus Dur is a cofounder of the LibForAll Foundation and a member of the International Board of Governors of the Peres Peace Center.
The Jerusalem Post, however, reported in its December 8 edition that the five-member Indonesian delegation had visited Israel under the joint sponsorship of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the LibForAll Foundation.
The Jerusalem Post further said that the five Indonesians, including Muhammadiyah representative Syafiq Mughni and Abdul A'la from the NU, had spent a week in the country and had also met with Palestinian moderates in Ramallah. (dar)
Executives of the country's two largest Muslim organizations have denied any knowledge of a delegation of Indonesian Muslim clerics to Israel that meet with President Shimon Peres last week.
Din Syamsuddin, chairman of Indonesia's second largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah, said he knew nothing about the meeting or who had attended it.<>
"I haven't been following the reports. I don't know who went (to Israel). But, as a matter of fact, I would like to know," Din said Sunday evening in a phone interview with The Jakarta Post.
Meanwhile, Ghozi Hasyim, a representative of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), said he was unaware of any such meeting, and denied that his organization had been involved.
"I didn't know there was an invitation from Israel. As far as I know, there were no representatives from NU," Ghozi told the Post by phone Sunday.
The Associated Press had earlier reported that President Peres hosted a delegation of Muslim religious leaders Friday, whom it was claimed represented 70 million Indonesian Muslims.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, currently does not have diplomatic ties with Israel.
The delegation was said to have visited Peres as representatives of the moderate face of Islam, which sought cooperation and peace with other countries and religions.
Zannuba "Yenny" Arifah Chafsoh Rahman Wahid, the daughter of former president and ex NU chairman Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, said her father was not among the Indonesian participants at the meeting.
"No, he did not leave for Israel. He was in Jakarta," she told the Post.
Gus Dur is a cofounder of the LibForAll Foundation and a member of the International Board of Governors of the Peres Peace Center.
The Jerusalem Post, however, reported in its December 8 edition that the five-member Indonesian delegation had visited Israel under the joint sponsorship of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the LibForAll Foundation.
The Jerusalem Post further said that the five Indonesians, including Muhammadiyah representative Syafiq Mughni and Abdul A'la from the NU, had spent a week in the country and had also met with Palestinian moderates in Ramallah. (dar)
