Cancelled Indonesian visit was ‘to do’ with Wilders
The decision by Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to call off his visit to the Netherlands this week was to do with the involvement of anti-Islam campaigner Geert Wilders in the next government, not a lawsuit from Moluccan pro-independence supporters, the Nederlands Dagblad said on Saturday.
The paper bases its claims on sources close to the planned state visit.
Yudhoyono cancelled the state visit on Tuesday, citing an court case initiated by by Moluccan activists who accuse him of human rights abuses.
However, the paper said the legal case was just an excuse and the visit had been cancelled because of Wilders’ standpoints over Islam.
Last month, Indonesia’s ambassador to the Netherlands said the visit was at risk because of Wilders.
Indonesia, a former Dutch colony, is the biggest Muslim country in the world.
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