Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Mahfud MD (centre left), is seen meeting with the leader of Etidal, Mansour Alshammari (centre right). (Image via Twitter.com/@mohmahfudmd)

Discussing counter-terrorism, Mahfud MD meets leader of Etidal

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Mahfud MD, visited Saudi Arabia to meet the leader of Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology (Etidal), counter-terrorism and radicalism organization in the country. Making the visit on Monday, Mahfud himself confirmed the visit through his personal Twitter account.

According to his Tuesday's tweet, Mahfud stated that he met with the leader of Etidal, Mansour Alshammari, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Etidal is an organization founded by King Salman to fight terrorism by developing insights on Islamic moderation. During his visit, Mahfud was accompanied by the leaders of major Islamic organizations in Indonesia. They are Robikin Emhas of Nahdlatul Ulama, Hamdan Zoelva of Islamic Union (Syarikat Islam), and Yasril A. Baharuddin of the Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals Association (ICMI).

Mahfud added that he still kept himself up to date with the ongoing situations in Indonesia. Noting the Islamic values, Mahfud stated that he keeps praying and believing that Islam is a humane and peaceful religion. The statement came following a clash between members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and Indonesian Police. The incident resulted in 6 deaths from FPI's force.

Until then, there has been no further explanation on the clash. On the other hand, some parties are urging the Indonesian Government to form an independent body to investigate the matter.

Source: https://bit.ly/37Hhzhj