10,000 Pray for Peace, Religious Harmony

About 10,000 Indonesians, including President Abdurrahman Wahid, gathered in a stadium in Jakarta, the capital, to pray for peace and religious harmony on the eve of a key meeting of the country’s top legislature. The rally followed similar nonpolitical gatherings in recent weeks that called for an end to bloodshed in the world’s fourth-most-populous nation. The frail Wahid, under sustained criticism over his running of the country, is to account for his stormy first year in office today during the annual session of the People’s Consultative Assembly.