Thursday, May 15, 2008
Gus Dur Satisfied About His US Visit
Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Former president Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) said here Wednesday he was satisfied about his recent visit to the United States because he was able to convince US policy-makers about the need to promote interfaith dialogs.

"Thank God, they proved willing to promote interfaith dialogs jointly. It`s important because previously they chose to be neutral," Gus Dur said here upon his return from the US.

During his stay in the US, Gus Dur held meetings with among others US Vice President Dick Cheney, Senator Robert Wexler and the chairperson of the US Congress`s Anti-terrorism Caucus, Sue Myrick, Senator Joe Rockefeller and Senator Christopher Bond.

"I told them the US must have a clear stance, a clear-cut position. Does it want to support the fundamentalists who will pit one religion against the other, or interfaith dialogs. It turned out, they are for dialogs," he said.

Gus Dur said in his the meetings with the US officials, he had also criticized the US for applying a double standard in its policies on the Palestine-Israeli conflict.

"I told them that the US stance is biased. On the one hand, it recognizes Israel but on the other, it is not being fair toward Palestine," he said.

Gus Dur was in the US to receive a "Medal of Valor" from the Simon Wieshenthal Center.