Muslim scholars. Peaceful, intellectual, reflective types, no doubt. Able to resolve what countless others before them have not.
General Musharraf, on a whirlwind visit to Jakarta and neighbouring Malaysia, yesterday called on "like-minded, strong and credible" Muslim nations to join forces in an attempt to resolve crises of violence and leadership across the Islamic world.
I'd start from scratch if I was them. Get rid of arabs, replace with monkeys, wait for evolution to occur.
He said he and Dr Yudhoyono would put the proposal to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah - like the two Asian leaders, a key US ally in its war on terror - "in order to consult on how to get this group together".
King Abdullah this week offered to broker peace talks between the warring Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas, whose attacks have left 30 dead in recent days.
Walking a fine line between accusing outside forces™ of responsibility for the Middle East's troubles and acknowledging the viciousness of power contests and civil wars wrenching apart various polities, General Musharraf warned that time was running out "to bring harmony" to the worst-affected areas.
"The time has come for action - there is no room for complacency," he urged, calling for "resolution to the disputes which are festering within the Muslim world".
Indonesia, whose roughly 200million Muslims largely follow the faith's Sunni stream, remains largely untroubled by the Sunni-Shia violence that plagues large parts of the Islamic world, including Iraq and Pakistan.
General Musharraf has in recent days been forced to urge calm in his own country as sectarian violence - peaking with the Shia festival of Ashura, marking the martyrdom of the prophet Mohammad's grandson at the hands of Sunni forces - left several dead.
However, Dr Yudhoyono emphasised yesterday that the international conference proposed during a 90-minute meeting at his Jakarta palace would include leaders from both of Islam's two main streams.
"We hope they would be able to produce a positive fatwah expressing the best ways to end conflict in the nations of the Middle East," the Indonesian President said.
Fatwa:
1. Push Joooos into sea
2. Create Islamic Paradise™
3. Blame Joooos for subsequent killing
Indonesia, whose place as a breeding ground for violent Islamist groups has led to special attention from Washington, recently hosted a visit from US President George W. Bush, with talks focusing specifically on the US military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Analysts said yesterday General Musharraf would have discussed some of the same issues with his host, with the latter capitalising on Indonesia's recent elevation to the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member.
"Indonesia's true capacity here is at the level of lobbying," said Hamdan Basyar, a Middle East analyst at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences. "And because we're a member of the Security Council, we have an international role to play.
"I think Pakistan sees that Indonesia and America have a good relationship, so there is an opportunity for mediation with the powerful country - America - via Indonesian lobbying.
"The Iraq problem cannot be resolved by war. So I think this meeting is a form of persuading Indonesia to persuade America of that."
Political scientist Ikrar Nusa Bhakti said Pakistan and Indonesia could bring particular weight to bear on emergencies such as the expanding Palestinian internal conflict "because neither country has a close connection with the problem, so the players there may be more willing to accept assistance".