Government will review stance on Afghan assault

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After giving out confusing signals, the Indonesian government decided on Thursday it would review its official stance on the U.S.-led attacks on Afghanistan.

The decision was taken in a meeting of senior officials at the office of Coordinating Minister of Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

State Minister of Communications and Information Syamsul Mu'arif said after the meeting that Indonesia faced a dilemma: whether to ally with the U.S. or bow to domestic pressures.

"Until then (the review) there should be no groups or individuals making trouble and complicating our position," he said.

The confusion over the government's stand began on Sunday when President Megawati spoke during the ceremony for the Ascension of the Prophet Muhammad at the Grand Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta. She implicitly denounced the U.S.-led assault on Afghanistan, saying that assaulting a sovereign country was unacceptable under any pretext. When the U.S. launched its attack on Afghanistan on Oct. 7, the government merely expressed concern.

The Megawati administration's seemingly hardening stance received praise from her critics at home but raised question as to which was official.

Trade and Industry Minister Rini Soewandi denied on Thursday that Megawati had condemned the U.S.-led strikes on Afghanistan and said Jakarta had not wavered in its support for a war on terrorism.

Rini said media reports had distorted Megawati's comments. Moreover, U.S. officials had neither questioned the country's commitment to the anti-terrorism fight nor threatened economic sanctions, she added.

"The U.S. understands that the perception (of Megawati's comments) by the media, or by some of the media, was not the true stance of Indonesia. It was not the intention of Indonesia to relax its position on terrorism," she told Reuters in Shanghai.

Megawati's Sunday statement has sparked a diplomatic furor.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard strongly criticized it, British Ambassador to Indonesia Richard Gozney "appreciated" it, while political observer J. Kristiadi warned of a backlash.

The most scathing criticism came from Howard, who saw Megawati's statement as a loosening of Indonesia's commitment to the fight against global terrorism.

Antara quoted Howard as saying, "It's important that the so- called largest Muslim country should not let the issue become Islam against others .... It should never happen."

Howard threatened to raise his objection to Megawati's stance at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shanghai this weekend.

Howard's statement has met equally strong reaction from Indonesian Ambassador to Australia Sudjadna Parnohadiningrat in Canberra. The envoy said Howard had made a misleading comment on Megawati's recent stand.

Sudjadna said Howard wanted to win the support of Australian people who will cast their votes in the general election on Nov. 10 when the prime minister will compete with rival Kim Beazley of the Labor Party.

"I really regret that Australian politicians are using Indonesian issues as material in their election campaigns," he said.

The ambassador stressed that Megawati's statement was a manifestation of Indonesia's foreign political policy, which was "independent and active".

In Jakarta, Ambassador Gozney told journalists, after meeting with Vice President Hamzah Haz, "We appreciate the statement of Ibu Megawati as president of a sovereign country."

Gozney, who speaks fluent Bahasa Indonesia, reiterated that the U.S.-led attacks on Afghanistan had targeted terrorists and the forces that gave them safe haven, not Islam itself, as some Muslim groups here had seen it.

J. Kristiadi of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said that by ignoring Megawati's latest statement, the U.S. meant to show that it knew who actually was for or against its military action in Afghanistan.

"Don't assume that the U.S. considers Indonesia means that much by it," he said.

It is possible that the U.S. is taking a hostile stance on Indonesia in order to defend its principles regarding terrorism. "Indonesia has to be careful about maintaining good relations with the U.S. because we rely heavily on it for our economy."