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Australia: NU has a long and proud history

NU Online  ·  Selasa, 15 Maret 2011 | 00:33 WIB

Jakarta, NU Online
The Australian government represented by its ambassador to Indonesia, Greg Moriaty, visited the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) headquarters here on Monday, and was received by general chairman of the Central Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) KH Said Aqil Siradj and such PBNU officials as H. As'ad Ali, Syarizal Syarif, Bina Suhendra and Avianto Muhtadi.

The Moriaty's visit is aimed at further strengthening and cultivating relationship between the two parties having so far been so good.r />
"I do appreciate the relationship between Australia and PBNU having so far been so good. And we aim to deepen and strengthen this cooperation," Moriaty said.

Meanwhile, Siradj also expressed his great appreciation to Moriaty for visiting the headquarters of the Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, saying that NU had tolerant and moderate views in social life.

Concerning the initiative to further deepen and strengthen any possible collaboration between the two sides, Siradj said he wasn in total agreement with Moriaty.

"I recently also met with (former) Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd as he gave aid to Mt. Merapi disaster victims," Siradj said.

On the occasion, Moriaty also expressed his great appreciation to NU for being capable of taking part, especially in dealing with various problems facing grassroots-level community.

"NU has a long and proud history, and Australia does appreciate it," Moriaty said, adding that he also understood tradition and belief systems having so far been both maintained and preserved by NU followers (Nahdliyin), including how the religious social organization protects the poor.

Meanwhile, Avianto Muhtadi said the collaboration could be done through purposeful programs like understanding different culture, learning social life, mitigating disaster risks, increasing both quality and capacity of Islamic schools.

"Governance, strengthening democracy through election monitoring, voter education, and people-to-people or cultural exchanges likely became  serious issues," Avianto said. (bil)