And on to Southeast Asia

By Zachary Abuza

Protests over the cartoons has spread to Southeast Asia. Demonstrations began on 3 February organized in Jakarta by the Islamic Defenders front, a small group of militants that has engaged in everything from conducting �sweeps� of hotels to drive away foreigners, to trashing bars and nightspots, to recruiting people to Iraq to join the jihad. Around 300 people demonstrated in front of the Danish Embassy, briefly entering the lobby of the office building where the embassy is housed. The BBC reported that the situation was diffused after the Danish ambassador met with several protestors and offered an apology.

Despite an appeal from the spokesman of Indonesia�s largest and decidedly moderate Muslim Organization, the Nadhalatul Ulama for calm and for Muslims not to be provoked by what he called "the stupid actions of those who belittle our prophet," protests have spread.

Yesterday demonstrations spread to Indonesia�s second largest city and commercial hub Surabaya. At least 200 protesters stoned the Danish consulate in Surabaya before descending on the US consulate, where police had to fire warning shots to disperse the protestors.

Protests have also spread to Thailand. On 6 January, between 300-400 Muslims from the troubled south protested outside the Danish Embassy in Bangkok. The protests were dwarfed by the mass protests organized by the country�s political opposition against Prime Minister Thaksin.

While smaller, less vociferous and less violent than in other parts of the world, the protests in Southeast Asia are gaining some traction and allowing Islamists to forge both a greater sense of solidarity and identification with their co-religionists around the world and reinforcing the already high-degrees of anti-Americanism prevalent in the region.

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