Govt to assist aid agencies

Govt to assist aid agencies

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government said it appreciated the initiative from community
groups and nongovernmental organizations which plan to send
humanitarian assistance to Iraq, saying that the move would be
the most effective way to support the Iraqi people.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on Wednesday
that the government would provide assistance for the
organizations to convey the aid.

"There is an urgency for both government and community leaders
to focus on humanitarian assistance in expressing sympathy and an
anti-war stance," he Hassan said after a meeting with a group of
Muslim leaders.

The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the Indonesian Red
Cross are among several organizations that have revealed plans to
send medical assistance and other relief to Iraq.

PKS president Hidayat Nurwahid, who was also at the meeting
with Hassan, said on Wednesday that the first person to leave for
the Middle East was the party's treasurer Lutfi Hassan Ishak.

He added that the party had already registered 1,500 people
who were ready to go on a relief mission, but due to limited
funds the party would not send that many.

Hidayat said the number of humanitarian workers would be
determined pending Lutfi's observation reports.

So far the government has no plans to provide assistance for
the Iraqi people, asserting that it is the responsibility of the
United States which initiated the war.

Jakarta's position on this issue contradicts that of the
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who since the
beginning of the war has emphasized the need for relief instead
of stopping the war.

After the meeting with Hassan, the religious leaders called on
the public to concentrate more on gathering humanitarian support
for the Iraqis rather than fighting alongside them.

"To sacrifice our wealth for other people should be conducted
first before we sacrifice our lives for others," Umar Shihab from
the Indonesia Ulemas Council (MUI) said.

He was commenting on the intention of several Muslim groups
who had begun to register people to fight as mercernaries in
Iraq.

Noted Muslim preacher Abdullah Gymnastiar also said that
expressing support for the Iraqis should be conducted in the most
effective way.

"We fully understand people's deep sympathy for Iraqis, but it
should be carried out in the most effective way so it will truly
help them," the preacher, popularly known as Aa Gym, said.