JAKARTA, 2 April 2003 — The war against Iraq has three Muslim-majority countries in Asia tiptoeing down a tightrope to stay friends with Washington while scrambling to identify with popular opposition and prevent anger from boiling into violence. If they fail, Washington could find itself having won a war in the Mideast at the price of creating fresh problems in Asia, where Indonesia, Pakistan and Malaysia have all earned praise from the United States for their efforts against terrorism.
“It is in our own long-term interests to have good relations with the United States, but in this regard, we just disagree completely,” said Amien Rais, the leader of Indonesia’s most powerful legislative body and a prominent moderate Muslim.
In Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, the government has been saying for months that a peaceful approach was the best way to resolve the Iraq crisis. Immediately after the invasion began, President Megawati Sukarnoputri said: “Indonesia strongly denounces the unilateral attack on Iraq” and the country began a campaign for the UN Security Council to call for a halt to the war.
In neighboring Malaysia, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi this week urged all citizens, irrespective of political allegiance and race, to be united in expressing opposition to the war. “Whatever action we take to oppose the US action in attacking Iraq should be done in a united manner,” said Abdullah, who is leading the country while Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is on leave. But as in Indonesia, it has also been at pains to tell its people not to take out their anger on individual Americans, British, or Australians or their businesses in the country.
