RI pushes forward with peace plan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will press on with its proposal to end
\nthe civil war in the former Yugoslavia despite deteriorating
\nconditions in the field, senior diplomat Nana Sutresna said
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
Nana told reporters after meeting with President Soeharto that
\nIndonesia is ready to move on to the next stage of consolidating
\nits initiative, having conveyed the plan to the warring parties
\nand some of the major powers.<\/p>\n
\"Almost everyone gave a positive response ... Some even gave
\ntheir a 100 percent support,\" said Nana, whom Soeharto has
\nassigned to pursue the plan on his behalf. Nana is also the chief
\nexecutive assistant to President Soeharto in the head of state's
\ncapacity as chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).<\/p>\n
\"They see the President's initiative as an objective and
\nrealistic approach. They see that we have no intention of
\nmediating in the conflict. We're only helping the conflicting
\nparties to come to a meeting point,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Soeharto's peace initiative was first broached with the
\nleaders of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina when he traveled to
\nZagreb and embattled Sarajevo in March. He subsequently sent Nana
\nto tour the other former Yugoslavia republics and the capitals of
\nmajor powers, including Germany and Russia, to discuss the plan.<\/p>\n
The initiative calls for two conferences. The first one is to
\ninvolve only the conflicting parties in order to try to resolve
\ntheir differences. The second is to be an international
\nconference bringing in the superpower and neighboring countries
\nto endorse the agreements.<\/p>\n
Soeharto also suggested the formation of a confederation among
\nthe former states of Yugoslavia.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian proposal already has the endorsement of the
\n112-member NAM, Nana said.<\/p>\n
Preconditions.<\/p>\n
He explained that unlike the other peace initiatives tried in
\nBosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, the Indonesian plan sets no
\npreconditions.<\/p>\n
\"We're only telling them (the conflicting parties) that they
\nshould get together. Whatever it is that they want to discuss is
\nup to them.<\/p>\n
\"Of course this doesn't mean that we're not going to study the
\nproblem. We have to study their respective positions and the
\nprospect of meeting points. This is what we're looking for now.\"<\/p>\n
Nana warned the public, including the press, against
\ndismissing the proposal too quickly. He pointed out the long and
\narduous process Indonesia went through to help ensure peace in
\nCambodia.<\/p>\n
\"Remember Cambodia. In the beginning, many people jeered us.
\nNot only the warring parties, but even some people here at home
\nasked `What's the use?'. But we continued.<\/p>\n
\"To reach the first Jakarta Informal Meeting in Bogor, we bent
\nover backwards behind the scene,\" he said, referring to the 1988
\nconference that brought the warring Cambodian factions together
\nfor the first time since the civil war began in the late 1970s.<\/p>\n
The Cambodian peace agreement was signed at an international
\nconference in Paris four years after the Bogor meeting.<\/p>\n
\"This is a very complicated problem that requires our patience
\nand your prayers,\" Nana said of the conflict in former
\nYugoslavia.<\/p>\n
He reiterated the recent remarks by Minister of Foreign
\nAffairs Ali Alatas, who stressed that \"Bosnia needs concrete
\naction and not beautiful language and resolutions.\" (emb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-pushes-forward-with-peace-plan-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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