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Indonesia realizes commitments to peaceful Islam in Egypt, Afghanistan
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Closer ties – A student dormitory building is seen under construction in a joint project from the Indonesian and Egyptian governments at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. (The Foreign Affairs Ministry/-)
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ndonesia's latest commitment to the dissemination of peaceful Islamic teachings has resulted in the building of a student dormitory at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, and the beginning of the construction of the Indonesian Islamic Center (IIC) in Kabul, Afghanistan.
"The Indonesian dormitory is the first foreign dormitory at Al-Azhar," Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said on Sunday.
The minister added that more than 3,000 Indonesian students were currently pursuing their studies at Al-Azhar, a moderate Islamic university, making them the biggest group of foreign students.
Foreign Ministry official Lukman Siregar revealed that the dormitory was officially handed over to the university on Jan. 28 and was ready to be occupied. However, he said, university officials were still working on rules and regulations for the building.
Lukman said the construction was the result of cooperation between the two governments.
"The dormitory has the capacity to accommodate 3,000 students. We have proposed that half of the capacity be made available for Indonesian students while the remainder be allocated to local students," Lukman told thejakartapost.com.
On the project in Afghanistan, Retno said the government had recently begun constructing the IIC in the Fatiha building, around 500 meters from a mosque in Ahmad Shah Baba Mina, Kabul.
The Foreign Ministry said it was hoped that the IIC would encourage cooperation among Muslim academics and clerics from Indonesia and Afghanistan to promote moderate Islamic views.
As the host of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit scheduled for March 6 to 7, Indonesia has taken advantage of the opportunity to strengthen ties with key member countries.
On the sidelines of the summit on Sunday, Retno conducted closed-door bilateral meetings with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Soukry and Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani on the development of the projects. (ebf)
