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Prince Charles vows to boost inter-faith dialogue
The Prince of Wales arrives at Halim Perdanakusumah Airport, East Jakarta, by Royal Air Force plane, Saturday
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The Prince of Wales arrives at Halim Perdanakusumah Airport, East Jakarta, by Royal Air Force plane, Saturday. The prince is on a four-day visit to Indonesia to promote understanding on interfaith matters and to give a presidential lecture on forestry issues. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)
Britain’s Crown Prince Charles arrived here Saturday for a five-day visit to promote forest conservation and interfaith dialogue.
Shortly after landing at Halim Perdanakusuma airport, Charles proceeded to the Istiqlal Mosque in Central Jakarta for talks with Din Syamsuddin, chairman of the country’s second largest Muslim organization, the Muhammadiyah and noted Muslim scholars Azyumardi Azra and Tarmizi Taher.
Din said after the closed-door meeting that Prince Charles was committed to interfaith
dialogue, particularly between Muslims and Christians.
“Prince Charles underlines that the traditional wisdom of various religions in the world could help fight our common enemies, such as poverty and backwardness,” Din said.
On Sunday Charles is scheduled to visit the Harapan Hutan rain forest conservation project in Jambi, Sumatra.
Antara news agency reported the local police have heightened security on Saturday, ahead of the royal visit.
During his trip to Jambi, Charles will visit a forestry rehabilitation project, which is a home to various protected flora and fauna.
The Prince of Wales is to meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the State Palace on Monday and attend a discussion on religious issues later in the day.
Charles will travel to Yogyakarta on Tuesday to meet the sultan and governor, Hamengkubuwono X, and visit Borobudur Buddhist temple and an Islamic boarding school in Krapyak, south of Yogyakarta.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Teuku Faizasya said climate change, global warming and forestry would top the agenda of Charles’ tour of Asia, including Indonesia.
The prince last visited Indonesia in 1989 with the late Princess Diana.
