FPI Has Renounced Violence

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Chairman of the Islam Defenders' Front (FPI) Habib Rizieq said members of his organization had abandoned violence as a way of expressing their aspirations.

Habib made the statement during meeting with Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali here on Friday.

"Violence is no longer our method. We have abandoned it," he said.

The FPI had become known as  a hardline mass organization that often resorts to violence  when protesting against a group of people or things that according to them ran against Islamic teachings.

Meanwhile, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali after the Friday meeting with Habib Rizieq expressed appreciation towards FPI's willingness to change its violence-prone  actions.

"FPI must put forward  gentle and persuasive ways in speaking their thought to the public instead of using violence," he said.(IGT)