Hundreds of Indonesian Islamists protested in central Jakarta on Sunday against this weekÂ’s visit by President Obama. Around 2500 protesters from Hizbut Tahrir shouted "Reject Obama" and "America is Terrorist" outside the US embassy as they displayed banners with slogans such as "Reject Obama, Reject Capitalism, Reject Imperialism".The groupÂ’s spokesman Mujiyanto said, "We strongly oppose America and Obama coming to Indonesia. Obama is a murderer of our Muslim brothers in Palestine and Afghanistan, a thief of IndonesiaÂ’s natural resources, and an imperialist who seeks to take over the world and will do anything for US interests."
Similar protests were also held Sunday in other cities, including Surabaya in East Java and Makassar in South Sulawesi.
Obama will be in Indonesia for the 18-member East Asia Summit at the end of the week. The 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, with observing nations including the United States attending, is also taking place this week.
The delegates will discuss major regional issues, such as territorial clashes in the South China Sea and the MyanmarÂ’s bid to take over IndonesiaÂ’s role as ASEAN chair in 2014.