Don't react excessively to flag burnings: ABRI

Don't react excessively to flag burnings: ABRI

JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) urged the public
yesterday to refrain from "disproportionate" reactions to the
burning of Indonesian flags in Australia, saying that these could
jeopardize the good relations between the two countries.

ABRI chief spokesman Brig. Gen. Suwarno Adiwijoyo told The
Jakarta Post that there were "anti-Indonesia" people abroad who
"systematically" endeavored to incite Indonesians to react in
such a way as could mar Australian-Indonesian relations.

By reacting disproportionately Indonesians are falling into
their trap, he said.

A number of protests have taken place at the Australian
embassy here over the past week, triggered by the burning of
Indonesian flags at demonstrations in two Australian cities. The
Association of Indonesian Importers (GINSI) has also threatened
to boycott Australian products unless that country expels
activists campaigning against Indonesian government policy from
its territory by Sep. 18.

"The burning of flags in Australia (was aimed at inciting)
Indonesian people to react disproportionately," Suwarno said. "If
the relations between the two countries become bad, (Australia)
won't care if those ("anti-Indonesians" intensify) their
activities."

"The more indifferent that country is, the more free those
people will be (in pursuing their goals)," he said. By contrast,
"the better our relations, the more worried they will be."

Suwarno said the Indonesian government has responded
adequately to the situation. The strong protests lodged by
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas with the Australian
government were "good enough," he said.

He also warned against retaliating in kind. "If we do similar
things -- burning their flags -- we'll be the one who loses," he
said. "For Indonesian people, the flag is a symbol of the
country's honor. We once sacrificed our blood and tears for our
flag...we hold it sacred."

Other nations may not hold their flags in such an esteemed
place, he said. "For them, a flag may only be a piece of cloth.
If it's burnt, they can always make a new one. Some of them even
wear it as underwear and think nothing of it," he said.

By continually cultivating good relations between the
governments of Indonesia and Australia, and between the armed
forces of the two countries, the "anti-Indonesia" campaign could
be limited, Suwarno said.

In Canberra, Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans urged
yesterday both his country and Indonesia not to allow the flag-
burning row to harm ties, saying Australia was prepared to suffer
insults in the interests of good relations.

Evans said he hoped relations could begin to return to normal
after the wave of protests in both countries, Reuters reported.

"There has been some reasonably explicit, and explicitly
offensive things said about me and the Australian government and
Australians generally," Evans said.

"We take that on the chin, we ride with those things and we're
not going to make an issue of it," he said.

Meanwhile, two more demonstrations against Australia took
place in Indonesia yesterday.

Some 2,000 students of Diponegoro University in Semarang,
Central Java, staged a noisy demonstration. Hundreds of placards
and banners, with strongly-worded protests aimed at the
Australian government, were displayed. Among them were: "The
burning of flags is an insult to Indonesia", "It's hurting
Indonesian people" and "We protest the burning."

An organizer of the protest, Djoko Yuwanto, read out a
statement, urging the government to review its diplomatic ties
with Australia and other countries which "have allowed the
burning of Indonesian flags", such as the Philippines and New
Zealand.

In Jakarta, sixteen students demonstrated outside the
Australian embassy, then went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
to urge the government to take a tougher stance towards
Australia.

Jakarta police said yesterday that they have deployed more
personnel to safeguard the Australian embassy in Kuningan, South
Jakarta, following last week's rowdy demonstrations there.

"By law, police have an obligation to guarantee the safety of
everyone, including the staff of the foreign embassies," City
Police Chief Maj. Gen. Dibyo Widodo said.

Dibyo was quoted by Spokesman Lt. Col. Bambang Permantoro as
saying that the number of police deployed at the embassy had been
increased in view of last week's incidents. (swe/har/bsr/01/mds)