• Thu   • Dec 19, 2013   • Updated: 12:32pm  Moderate Islam's
alternative plan  PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 06 February, 2007,
12:00am UPDATED : Tuesday, 06 February, 2007, 12:00am  Americans
are accustomed to being at the centre of diplomacy concerning
the Middle East. So they might not have paid a lot of attention
to news out of Jakarta following a meeting last week between two
presidents: Indonesia's Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Pakistan's
Pervez Musharraf. But they should. In the face of the multiple
crises in the region, the world desperately needs all the honest
brokers it can get.  The two presidents announced a new
initiative on the seething conflicts in Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon
and Afghanistan. The leaders said they hoped to call together a
group of 'like-minded' Islamic countries - a clear reference to
moderate Muslims - to develop new approaches to these parallel
crises, which have reached directly into their two countries in
the form of terrorism.  There are many reasons why this
initiative should be wel