Surabaya (ANTARA News) - The chairman of Indonesia`s Nahdlatul Ulama organization, Hasyim Muzadi, hailed the planned visit to Indonesia by US President Obama next month saying it will improve US-Islam relations.

"Obama`s arrival will be good for Indonesia because Obama has offered restoring the US relations with the Islamic world after undergoing tension during the era of George Bush," he said here on Saturday evening.

He made the statement at the Al Akbar Mosque at the commemoration of the death of former president Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) 40 days ago.

Hasyim who is also the president of the World Conference on Religious for Peace said Indonesia as the world`s biggest Moslem country serves as an international "Islam shop window."

"So, Obama`s arrival here will be good although what Obama will do cannot be viewed optimally because as a democracy state the president of the US has a big role but is not everything because there is a legislative body that will limit president`s actions.

He said however that the Obama`s policy was encouraging as Obama with it had helped reduce the tension that had happened between the Western and Islamic worlds.

"Whether Obama will be able to control Israel, we will see," he said. Around 10,000 people from many regions in East Java attended the commemoration including Gus Dur`s brother Solahudin Wahid.(*)