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.