President George W. Bush (news - web sites) meets with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri at the Indonesian resort of Bali during a three-hour stay October 22, 3003.
BALI, Indonesia (Reuters) - President Bush praised the world's most populous Muslim nation on Wednesday for its support in the war on terror and said Islamic terrorists defiled one of the great faiths.
But Bush ran afoul of leading moderate Muslim clerics during talks on the resort island of Bali, where Islamic militants linked to al Qaeda blew up two nightclubs packed with foreign tourists just over a year ago, killing 202 people.
Reflecting growing mistrust of the United States among ordinary Indonesians, they criticized Washington for supporting Israel over the Palestinians and for the occupation of Iraq, and said Bush needed to listen more to the rest of the world.
Bush, speaking against the backdrop of a palm-fringed beach and turquoise sea, expressed his gratitude to Jakarta after meeting President Megawati Sukarnoputri and the clerics.
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