One of the Indonesian Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) leaders met US Vice President Mike Pence after a suicide bomb attack on three churches in Surabaya. The meeting on Thursday at Washington time to discuss religious freedom in the face of mounting extremism.
Vice President Pence via Twitter confirmed his meeting with Yahya Cholil Staquf, Katib Aam NU.
"Feel honored to welcome the General Secretary @NahdlatulUlama to @WhiteHouse today," Pence wrote via his Twitter account, @VP, quoted on Saturday (19/05/2018).
"Their efforts (NU) against radical Islam are very important in Indonesia - where we see a heinous attack on Christians. @POTUS Trump's administration stands with NU in its fight for religious freedom and against jihadists," Pence continued.
On Sunday, a family of six - including four children - believed to be affiliated with the Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) group carried out a bomb attack on three churches in Surabaya. This attack killed about 13 people including the perpetrators.
Yahya Cholil Staquf, who once served as a spokesman for President Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur), sat with Pence and a senior US government adviser at West Wing to discuss the bombing.
The US views NU as Indonesia's largest Islamic organization community that continues to struggle with the "moderate Islam" model. NU is also respected by the US for its vocal stance against extremism and its efforts to build healthier interfaith relationships.
One of the victims of the bomb attack in Surabaya was a Christian citizen trained by NU as the guardian of the church. He died while preventing a suicide bomber from acting on a motorcycle.
"The VP voiced a deeply personal condolence on behalf of the United States for the event over the weekend, reaffirming the government's commitment to help Indonesia and NU in efforts to combat extremism, and offer Ramadan's greetings to the NU community," said Johnnie Moore, a religious advisor to the Trump Administration who also attended the meeting.
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