Arab-RI relationship

Arab-RI relationship

In reference to what was quoted by Antara and published in The
Jakarta Post (Dec. 20, 2002, page 4) concerning Ahmed Syafii
Ma'arif's views about diplomats from Middle Eastern countries,
on behalf of the Arab ambassadors and heads of missions, I would
like to note the following:

We highly respect Syafii as an honest scholar and great leader
who contributes positively in enhancing Indonesian/Arab
relations, especially the cultural aspects. However, it would
have been appropriate to invite the Arab ambassadors and heads of
missions to participate in the seminar at which Syafii spoke
about the relationship between Indonesia and Middle Eastern
countries.

Regrettably, none of these envoys were invited to the seminar
despite the fact that it was about "the relationship between
Indonesia and Middle Eastern countries". So they were not given
the opportunity to discuss the different aspects of
Arab/Indonesian relations in an objective, frank and transparent
manner, and to explain how deep and comprehensive those relations
are.

With due respect to the views expressed by Syafii, we consider
them to be subjective and do not reflect the realities of
Indonesian/Arab relations.

RIBHI Y. AWAD, Ambassador of the State of Palestine,
Dean of the Arab Ambassadors, Council, Jakarta