Press Release

No.  117/HMS/IX/02

Indonesia Hopes September 11^th Tragedy Never Recurs

The Vice President of Indonesia, Mr. Hamzah Haz, on Wednesday expressed the deep sympathy of the Government and people to the victims of September 11 2001 and their families. 

On the opening of an international seminar on Islam and the West in Jakarta, Vice President Hamzah Haz said he hoped the world would never again experience a tragedy like the one that happened in the United States on that date. These acts are completely against humanity and religious values, and this incident was recorded as a dark page in the history of mankind. 

Vice President Hamzah Haz observed that a better, more constructive and promising world order would be the product of positive interaction between Islam and the Western world if they shared ideas and experiences in the spirit of honesty, sincerity and togetherness. He noted that Indonesian Moslems were aware that Islam and the Western world possessed essential similarities, and that Islam and the West had historically shared scientific knowledge while jointly continuing Greek philosophical traditions and rationalism.

Vice President Hamzah Haz further stated that Indonesian Moslems deemed it necessary to develop dialogue between the West and Islam in order to reconstruct the bridge which used to connect the two, and that the people of Indonesia were ready to take part in that effort.

 New York, 11 September 2002