Envoys misinformed over KL meeting

Envoys misinformed over KL meeting

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab assured
on Friday that Indonesia harbored no political motive when its
diplomats attended a briefing held by the wife of jailed
Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim in Kuala Lumpur, and that
their presence was merely a case of miscommunication.

"It is a matter of human error as, before attending the
meeting, our diplomats received assurances that the meeting had
clearance from the Malaysian government," Alwi told The Jakarta
Post on Friday.

"The problem was, we did not cross-check the information.

"There was no political motive at all, it was totally a case
of miscommunication, as we believed the discussion was only about
Anwar's health condition," he remarked.

Alwi further underlined that Indonesia would never jeopardize
good relations between the two countries.

"I believe that Malaysia understands that we do not have any
intention in meddling in their internal affairs and will always
respect Malaysia's sovereignty as our close neighbor," he
remarked.

Malaysia rapped foreign diplomats last week for attending a
closed-door meeting with Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail,
saying that their attendance at such a meeting amounted to
interference in Malaysia's domestic affairs.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad criticized the meeting and
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said on Wednesday
that he would summon all diplomats attending the meeting to
explain the incident.

It was reported that, besides Indonesian diplomats, there were
also envoys from Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Singapore,
Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United States, Germany and
New Zealand in attendance.

Alwi said that this should be a very important lesson and that
Indonesian diplomats in the future should only attend such
meetings if there is clearance from the Malaysian government.

"Our embassy has sent a letter to Ibu Azizah regretting the
inaccurate information she gave our diplomats. And we completely
understand if Pak Mahathir was upset because of the matter," he
said. (dja)