Indonesia police vow to block "political" rally led by Islamists
JAKARTA - Indonesian police will block a rally in Jakarta next month led by the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) if the group intends to make it political just days before an election for city governor that has raised religious tension.
The FDI has led two rallies over the past year targeting the ethnic Chinese, Christian Jakarta governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, which drew hundreds of thousands of Muslims calling for his jailing over allegations he insulted the Koran.
The FPI leader, Habib Rizieq, was on Monday declared a suspect over allegations he insulted Indonesia's state ideology, Pancasila, which enshrines religious diversity in an officially secular system.
Jakarta police chief Mochamad Iriawan told Reuters in an interview on Monday the FPI's plan for another rally on Feb. 11, four days before the Jakarta elections, indicated it would be political in nature, and if so, it would not be allowed.
