REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Muslims in Indonesia should not be provoked by the ongoing conflict and tensions in the Middle East, an observer of Middle East issues from the University of Indonesia Yon Machmudi stated.

"The Muslims in Indonesia should think clearly and should not bring the conflict and tensions in the Middle East into the religious domain because the attacks by Saudi Arabia against Yemen have nothing to do with religion," Machmudi noted here on Wednesday (1/4).

According to Machmudi, the war in the Middle East cannot be perceived as a war between Shiite and Sunni Muslims as it would be dangerous for the peace-loving Indonesian Sunni Muslims.

He remarked that the government should be on guard against the possible spread of the conflict from the Middle East to Indonesia, because if it happened, it would be detrimental to the country itself.

Machmudi expressed his fears that direct support to Saudi Arabia on the pretext of defending Sunni Muslims would trigger horizontal conflicts in Indonesia as the Sunni-Shiite issue had the potential to create friction in the community.

"The war in the Middle East should not be brought to Indonesia as the culture in Indonesia and that in the Middle East are very different," he affirmed.

He further explained that the attack of the coalition group led by Saudi Arabia against Yemen is part of a "proxy war" in order to expand and maintain the influence of the two major countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran in the Middle East.

For six days, a Saudi-led coalition has bombed Iran-allied Houthi fighters and army units fighting against President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, whose last bastion in the southern city of Aden was heavily shelled overnight.

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