Envoy apologizes over Ambalat remarks

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Rusdihardjo apologized to the House on Wednesday for remarks he made concerning the burning of Malaysian flags during rallies in Indonesia over the Ambalat dispute.

Rusdihardjo, in Jakarta, told House of Representatives Commission I on defense and foreign affairs the Malaysian press had misunderstood his remarks, which he said were meant to calm the situation.

The Malaysian press reported that Rusdihardjo apologized to Kuala Lumpur over the burning of Malaysian flags in Indonesia, and quoted the envoy as saying the protesters were people "who are hungry and have become angry. Angry people become insane".

The statement was criticized by House members and members of the public, who said Rusdihardjo had "insulted" Indonesia.

"I apologize if my statement caused confusion and prompted criticism from you. The Malaysian press misunderstood my statement because I was using idiomatic expressions. The words 'hungry', 'angry' and 'insane' were not used according to their literal meanings."

"However, I should defend my apology to Kuala Lumpur because we have to be fair and acknowledge that burning a country's flag is a serious crime on a universal scale," Rusdihardjo said.

He added that Kuala Lumpur's claim over the Ambalat offshore area in the Sulawesi Sea was unjustified and Indonesia would defend its sovereignty over the area.

"At the start of the Pacific War (World War II), the Japanese ambassador to the U.S. still bowed, but he reported to Tokyo and said please go ahead with the attack on Pearl Harbor because America is unguarded," Rusdihardjo said.

"After all, I'm still a nationalist, aren't I?" he said.

During a later closed-door session, Rusdihardjo briefed the commission on what he knew of Malaysia's security and military strength.

Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur have been involved in a heated dispute over possession of the East Ambalat block in the Sulawesi Sea. The dispute exploded after Malaysian oil company Petronas awarded oil exploration rights in the area to Royal Dutch/Shell.

The House members also questioned Indonesia's diplomatic strategy in the dispute, saying the country was in a superior bargaining position because the map that Malaysia used as the basis of its claim over the area had been contested by many other neighboring countries.

Rusdihardjo said the 1979 map on which Malaysia has based its claims was protested in 1980 by Indonesia, the Philippines, China, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei, and in 1982 by Vietnam.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs secretary-general Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat said Indonesia and Malaysia had decided not to involve a third party in trying to settle the dispute because past experience had shown bringing in outside parties simply made matters worse.