Boyce, Gozney brig their case on Iraq to RI legislators

Boyce, Gozney brig their case on Iraq to RI legislators

Kurniawan Hari and Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The United States and Britain brought their case to Indonesian
legislators on Friday, trying to convince the lawmakers that
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had failed to comply with United
Nations Resolution 1441 and thus had to be disarmed forcefully.

United States Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce and
British Ambassador Richard Gozney, however, stressed that their
visit to the House of Representatives was not aimed at securing
the legislators' support to attack Iraq, but to share views on
the Iraq issue.

"The government of President Megawati has made it very clear,
both publicly and privately, to us that they oppose the use of
force to resolve this crisis," Boyce told the media after meeting
House Commission I for foreign policy and security affairs on
Friday.

The United States and its closest ally, Britain, have accused
Iraq of developing and storing weapons of mass destruction and
are likely to launch a military strike against Iraq to topple
Saddam from power.

Boyce said that everyone wanted to avoid war, including the
United States and its allies. There were options available for
Saddam Hussein and his regime in Iraq, the most obvious one of
which was immediate compliance with UN Resolution 1441, he said.

Saddam has been warned to comply with the resolution and
disarm voluntarily and prove to United Nations inspectors that
Iraq has disarmed and destroyed weapons of mass destruction.

Boyce added that the option was still open, although the
window was closing very quickly.

During the meeting, Indonesian legislators emphasized that
they opposed the use of military force as a means to disarm Iraq.

"We understand this, we respect it, and we may have to respect
that we disagree in coming days. If it comes to that, it is
important that we understand each other's reasons. We may not
agree with them, but as friends, it is important that the
communication is always open," Boyce said.

"We respect Indonesia's stance. The most important thing is to
ensure access of information exchange. We don't expect approval
but understanding," Ambassador Gozney said.

Gozney said that 15 members of the European Union had urged
Saddam to comply with the UN resolution.

Meanwhile, French Ambassador Herve Ladsous reaffirmed the
common ground France and Indonesia shared on Iraq, describing
their position as "exactly the same -- 100 percent".

"It is simply a matter of enabling the United Nations to do
the job. It is not about war, it is not about the Iraqi regime,
it is about weapons of mass destruction, and we have to help, we
all have to help the United Nations to do the job," Ladsous said
on Friday.

Speaking later to journalists at the U.S. Embassy, Ambassador
Boyce said he would consider tightening security around American
interests here if war in the Middle East was imminent.

"If it appears that we may be moving toward the use of force,
then I guess we would obviously, would probably want to review
all our measures," Boyce said, adding that security had already
been tightened since the Oct. 12 Bali bombing last year.

He also expressed confidence in the Indonesian government's
assurance of protecting foreigners and was satisfied with the
current level of security provided. "We're in pretty good shape
on that."

The U.S. Embassy sent home nonessential staff prior to
the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. After the Bali bombing,
Washington issued a travel warning on Indonesia that is still in
effect.