Australians warned to avoid Jakarta amid fears of terror attacks at political rally

THOUSANDS have gathered outside the city’s largest mosque calling for the governor to be arrested after he allegedly insulted the Koran.

AUSTRALIANS are being urged to avoid Jakarta today amid fears extremists will use a religious protest as an opportunity to launch attacks.

Thousands have gathered outside the city’s largest mosque to protest against the governor, saying he should be arrested for comments he made about the Koran.

The city’s governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama — better known by his nickname “Ahok” — is a Christian, and the first ethnic Chinese person to ever hold the office.

He’s accused of blasphemy for telling a fishing community last month they were “deceived” by a verse in the Koran barring Muslims from electing a non-Muslim leader.

He since apologised, but protest leader Bachtiar Nasir said it wasn’t enough.

“Ahok’s comment has hurt many Muslims. He has suggested that the verse is a lie and the people citing the verse as liars,” he told The Australian on Wednesday.

“Fifty thousand people from all over Indonesia has signed up, not just those in Jakarta. This has nothing to do with the election. This is about the sanctity of religion.”

That number has now grown to more than 100,000 - with protesters streaming in from other cities in Java, as well as Indonesia’s other major islands.

Muslim protesters calling for the arrest of Jakarta’s Chinese Christian governor.

27-year-old Muslim cleric Hilman Fauzi, from Bogor, said he had no problem with Ahok until his comments last month about how a Koranic verse was being used to lie to voters.

“Even though I’m not a (voter) in Jakarta. What (Ahok) did has hurt us,” he told AAP.

A man named Yahya, from Bangka Island in Sumatra, travelled overnight to get to the capital. He joined the Islamic Defenders Front - the hardline group spearheading the demonstration - four years ago. The 54-year-old said he wanted Ahok to be “punished”.

Former terrorist Nasir Abbas, who now works as a police consultant, warned there was a risk supporters of Islamic State and local terror group Jemaah Islamiyah would attend the demonstration. It comes after Syrian-based group Jabhat Fatah al-Sham published an image of masked terrorists holding a sign saying: “Punish Ahok or our bullets will.”

Thousands of police officers and soldiers have been deployed in the past few days, with reinforcements being called from several neighbouring provinces. Security has been tightened at the city’s international airport and officers are patrolling major landmarks.

General Gatot Nurmantyo, chief of Indonesia’s powerful military, has said it “will be in the front-line against any movement aimed at disrupting the unity and integrity of the nation.”

Ahok, pictured on the banner, is accused of “blasphemy” after insulting the Koran.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has today joined calls for “peace”.

He held the governor’s office before Ahok, resigning in 2014 to run for the presidency. Ahok served as Mr Widodo’s deputy, and the two are said to be close allies.

The Department of Foreign Affairs says travellers should avoid the area.

“We strongly advise you to avoid all protests and you should consider carefully your need to move about Jakarta more generally,” it said on its Smartraveller website.

At this stage, the scene remains calm.

— with AAP