RI requests UN meeting on postwar Iraq<\/p>\n
Berni K. Moestafa and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post,
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Following the fall of Baghdad to coalition forces, Indonesia
\nhas made a request to the United Nations through the Non-Aligned
\nMovement (NAM) to convene a General Assembly meeting as soon as
\npossible to discuss postwar Iraq.<\/p>\n
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on Sunday
\nthat the UN involvement in postwar Iraq was needed both for its
\nreconstruction and the establishment of a legitimate interim
\ngovernment in Iraq.<\/p>\n
\"The General Assembly meeting should address the postwar
\nsituation. We, through NAM, have requested the meeting,\" Hassan
\nsaid on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Indonesia earlier took the request through NAM to convene a UN
\nSecurity Council emergency meeting at the beginning of the war.
\nAlthough the meeting failed to produce anything concrete to stop
\nthe war, Indonesia made it clear to the world that its position
\nwas against the war.<\/p>\n
Hassan said on Sunday that Indonesia's involvement in postwar
\nIraq would be subject to the role of the UN there.<\/p>\n
\"Our participation depends on the UN participation there and
\nwe have called for the General Assembly meeting through NAM to
\ndiscuss the postwar situation in Iraq,\" Hassan added.<\/p>\n
The minister also said that the UN should once again send its
\nweapons inspection team to Iraq to prove whether the U.S.
\naccusation that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction was true.<\/p>\n
The U.S. has promised a \"vital role\" for the UN, but to the
\ndismay of the European antiwar camp, senior U.S. officials had
\nindicated that this would be confined to humanitarian aid and on
\nnon-political issues.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, local experts said that Indonesia must push for a
\nrole in reconstructing postwar Iraq even if only to help
\ncounterbalance America's presence.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia must be more proactive in getting itself involved
\nin the reconstruction efforts under the UN,\" said Riza Sihbudi, a
\nMiddle East expert from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences
\n(LIPI).<\/p>\n
Billions of dollars worth of contracts are soon up for grabs
\nin rebuilding Iraq after 12 years of economic sanctions and three
\nweeks of relentless bombing during the war. Many parts of the
\noil-rich country need major reconstruction work.<\/p>\n
Leading antiwar governments France, Germany and Russia had no
\nqualms in demanding a stake as soon as Saddam Hussein's regime
\nappeared to have ended.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, meanwhile, hesitated, wary about continued fighting
\nin some parts of Iraq and the absence of any UN role after the
\nwar.<\/p>\n
The U.S. will look to the institutions that it has great
\ninfluence in, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
\n(IMF), to outline policies that would, among other things, govern
\nIraq's vast oil resources.<\/p>\n
Smith Alhadar of the Indonesian Society for Middle East
\nStudies (ISMES) said if the U.S. continued to insist on
\nestablishing a U.S.-led military government that, albeit
\ntemporary, it would only prolong criticism of an illegal
\noccupation.<\/p>\n
\"A dominant American role would only lead to resistance among
\nthe Iraqis,\" said Smith on Saturday. \"The more that countries
\nparticipate the better.\"<\/p>\n
Calls for Indonesia to step in have also come from the U.S.
\nitself, when U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce called
\non Indonesia last week to participate in rebuilding Iraq,
\ndescribing this country's role as \"very important\".<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-requests-un-meeting-on-postwar-iraq-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}