Jakarta - Six British religious leaders will visit Indonesia from Feb 18 to 24, 2008 to familiarize them more with religious life in this country`s pluralistic society.
The Public Diplomacy Directorate of the Foreign Ministry said here on Thursday that the visit was one of the Indonesia-UK Islamic Advisory Group`s (IUIAG) activities.
IUIAG felt the need to increase capacity through inter-faith dialogues between the two countries. The program will be carried out in Jakarta and Yogyakarta.
In Jakarta, the participants will meet with leaders of the Muhammadiyah, Nahdlatul Ulema (UN), Indonesian Conference for Religion and Peace (ICIP) as well as visit the Cathedral, Istiglal grand mosque, Catholic University of Atmajaya and the foreign office.
In Yogyakarta, the British mission will meet the management of the Center for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies (CRCS), the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS) and the Institute for Interfaith Dialogue in Indonesia (Interfidei).
They are also scheduled to visit Mendut and Borobudur Buddhist temples, Kontesan village and spend the night at Islamic and Christian boarding schools.
The members of the mission are Canon Alan Amos, Khalil Ahmed Kazi, Mohammed Kabeer Bostan and Kathy Morrison.
To keep them company, the Foreign Ministry had appointed youth cross-interfaith representatives as Raja J Antoni(Maarif Institute), Abdul Malik Haramain (Secretary general of GP Ansor), Abidah Muflihati (Academic Restorative Initiative for Ambon), Favor Adelaide Bancin (Community of Jakarta Church) and Marningot Tua Natalis (Chatolic Youths).
IUIAG was launched by the foreign ministers of the two countries in London on January 30, 2007. The establishment of the committee was a follow up of the meeting between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and British Prime Ministr Tony Blair in March 2006 emphasising the need to form a discourse to nurture dialogues and develop ideas on cooperation between Islam and the West.
The Committee consisted of 14 Islamic figures from Indonesia and Britain in charge of giving recommendations to the Indonesian and British governments on policies and activities in a bid to deflect religious extremism, to promote Islam as a peaceful and tolerant religion in addition to building mutual understanding between Islam and the West.
Source: www.antara.co.id (15 Februari 2008)
