Islamic hard-liners break up religious tolerance rally

Islamic hard-liners in Indonesia broke up a religious tolerance rally today, beating demonstrators with bamboo sticks and calling for the deaths of members of a Muslim sect they consider heretical, witnesses said.

About 200 Christians, moderate Muslims and members of Ahmadiyah – an Islamic group the government is considering banning – gathered at the National Monument in the nation’s capital of Jakarta to celebrate the country’s tradition of pluralism, said Gunawan Mohamad, a prominent magazine publisher who took part in the rally.