Indonesia defends appointment of envoy to Australia<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday
\ndefended the appointment of Lt. Gen. (ret.) H.B.L. Mantiri as
\nIndonesia's next ambassador to Australia after criticisms were
\nvoiced by some parties in Australia.<\/p>\n
Irawan Abidin, the ministry's director of foreign information,
\ndismissed the suggestion, made by Australian Foreign Minister
\nGareth Evans, that Mantiri should apologize for remarks he made
\nin a 1992 press interview on the bloody incident in Dili, East
\nTimor, the previous year.<\/p>\n
\"Although perhaps open to misinterpretation, the message that
\nGen. Mantiri was trying to put across at that time was quite
\nuncontroversial and therefore we see no reason for an apology,\"
\nIrawan said in a written statement yesterday.<\/p>\n
Canberra has accepted the nomination of Mantiri as the next
\nIndonesian ambassador to replace Sabam Siagian, who is finishing
\nhis four-year term this week.<\/p>\n
Over the past week, the Australian press has been publishing
\nstories about remarks Mantiri made in the Indonesian magazine
\nEditor while chief of the Udayana Military Command, which
\noversees East Timor.<\/p>\n
According to Australian newspapers, the precise remarks of
\nMantiri regarding the 1991 Dili incident were:<\/p>\n
\"We don't regret anything. What happened was quite proper.<\/p>\n
\"They (the protesters) were opposing us, demonstrating, even
\nyelling things against the government. To me, that is identical
\nwith rebellion, so that is why we took firm action.\"<\/p>\n
Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating yesterday told
\nparliament in Canberra that he would not veto Mantiri's
\nappointment despite protests from parliamentarians.<\/p>\n
\"There are no circumstances that I can see where we would or
\nshould reject a nomination by the president (of Indonesia).\"<\/p>\n
Seventeen MPs, both government and opposition, signed a
\npetition urging Canberra to persuade Indonesia to review
\nMantiri's appointment.<\/p>\n
Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans has said that the
\nIndonesian Army general was not personally involved in the Dili
\nincident and that he was chosen by President Soeharto.<\/p>\n
Evans acknowledged that the appointment could pose problem
\nwhen the general moves to Canberra next month because he would
\nhave some explaining to do.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, he went further and suggested that Mantiri
\nshould apologize, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n
\"The bottom line is that what was said by him in 1992 was
\nabsolutely indefensible,\" Evans told Australian Broadcasting
\nCorporation radio. \"Although he is a highly competent and
\nrespected individual, it's going to be tremendously important
\nthat he makes very clear, very soon after his arrival in
\nAustralia, that he deeply regrets those remarks,\" Evans said.<\/p>\n
Irawan said Indonesia found it \"difficult to understand\" the
\ndemands for Mantiri's apology.<\/p>\n
\"When Gen. Mantiri made those remarks attributed to him in
\n1992, the full facts about these circumstances surrounding the
\nunfortunate Dili incident had yet to be revealed through
\ninvestigation by the proper authorities,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"The most reasonable thing that he could do was to make a
\nclarification to the effect that if the demonstration which
\nprecipitated the Dili incident was organized by people who were
\nseeking economic opportunities, he was certainly not against it.\"<\/p>\n
\"But if it was organized by members of the security
\ndisturbance group who were out to undermine the duly constituted
\nauthorities, the security apparatus had to take action.\"<\/p>\n
Indonesia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas, who is
\ncurrently in Phnom Penh on an official visit, refrained from
\ncommenting on Evan's demand for an apology until seeing the full
\nreport.<\/p>\n
But he told an Antara reporter that Mantiri's appointment was
\nalready approved by Canberra. (emb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-defends-appointment-of-envoy-to-australia-1447893297",
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