not-so-warm welcome

Indonesians Protest Obama Visit

Muslims say he is no different than Bush.

You can never go home again. As Barack Obama prepares to travel to Indonesia, where he spent much of his childhood, Muslims have staged rallies across the country to protest against visit. Organized by Muslim group Hizbut Tahrir, they drew around 20,000 people. "We don't see the differences between Obama and Bush, they both oppress Muslims, they both have blood on their hands," said a spokesman for the group. "That's why we reject Obama and we don't believe that he's reaching out to Muslims." On Wednesday, the president plans to visit Istiqlal mosque. From an undisclosed location, he will address Indonesia, the country with the world's largest Muslim population. But it may not be enough to change everyone’s mind. "Obama can talk all he wants in Cairo and in Jakarta, the fact is that he still has his troops in war with Muslims," said the spokesman. "It's all lip service."