Tony Blair meets with Muslim leaders in Jakarta

British PM Tony Blair met Indonesian President SBY in Jakarta yesterday and attended a meeting with senior Muslim leaders. The British press talked about Blair hoping to get a breather from the action back home and this trip, which has also included Australia and New Zealand worked pretty well. Blair is good at saying what people want to hear and I’m sure he came across as a ‘happy chappy’.

Indonesia is the most populaous Muslim country in the world and most people follow a moderate form of Islam. Still people feel uncomfortable with the Iraq situation and Britains unwaivering support of Isreal. I reckon they’ve got a point and do not envy Blair’s job of selling his government’s position.

President SBY commented on the direction both countries should go in dealing with relgious extremism when he said “We shouldn’t simplify the problem, as if this was between the extremists and the moderates, or the West versus Islam. There’s always a more radical element in any religion, which we have an obligation to approach wisely and fairly. The approach isn’t linear but rather progressive.”