INDONESIA HOSTS HOLOCAUST-AFFIRMING CONFERENCE

Indonesia hosts Holocaust-affirming conference (AFP)
JIMBARAN, Indonesia (AFP) - Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, on Tuesday hosted a conference aiming to promote religious tolerance and affirming the reality of the Holocaust.

The event on the resort island of Bali -- attended by rabbis, Holocaust witnesses and Muslim leaders -- styled itself as an "anti-conference of Tehran", where a December 2006 meet cast doubt on the genocide of Jews during World War II, triggering worldwide condemnation.

Chairing the discreetly-organised conference is former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid, known as Gus Dur, a moderate Islamic leader known to take courageous positions in Indonesia.

"Although I am a good friend of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, I have to say he is wrong," Gus Dur told the conference, referring to the Iranian president's dismissal of the Holocaust as a myth. "He falsified history ... I believe the Holocaust happened."