UK's first muslim minister to visit NU headquarters

Jakarta, NU Online
The United Kingdom's first Muslim minister Shahid Malik visited the Central Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) headquarters in Jakarta on Tuesday (24/6).

In the meantime the UK's Minister for International Development held a closed meeting with Secretary General of the PBNU Endang Turmudi to take up issues on terrorism and climate change.<>

Malik said his first visit to Indonesia was to strengthen cooperation between the two countries and added that Indonesia as the world's most populous Muslim country could play its important role in helping alleviate poverty.

"The purpose of my visit to Indonesia is actually to speak to a number of different organizations, government, civil society organizations, and media" to discuss ongoing cooperation on poverty reduction programs, he said.

Malik is the first British-born Muslim to serve in the country's government after being appointed minister of international development by Prime Minister Gordon Brown on July 29 last year.

He is responsible for the work of the British Department of International Development in Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America, including its poverty eradication programs.

"The UK government is committed to achieving the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals), which include halving extreme poverty by 2015. If more religious groups in the world show such commitment, we will certainly see a more rapid movement to achieve the goal."

Malik, a Sunni Muslim, also expressed his views on the Islamic sect Ahmadiyah, which the Indonesian government has banned from carrying out religious activities.

He said that in the UK, people believed in freedom of expression and religion, and everyone was welcomed to carry out their activities, as long as they did not preach violence.

"The Indonesian government must set its policies. As a Muslim myself, I believe that Muhammad is the last prophet, so anybody saying other than that does not fit in," he said.

"I'm not the person to judge, it is Allah that will judge everybody. But I actually believe that freedom of religion is fundamental for everybody." (mkf)