`Govt will ensure safety of foreigners'
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government assured foreigners living in Indonesia on Friday that it would do its utmost to ensure their safety and protect their interests should war break out in Iraq.
However, it underlined that there were no indications so far that an attack against Iraq would trigger massive protests in the world's largest Muslim country.
"We will ensure that such a backlash will not disrupt our domestic security, but so far there have been no indications that such an attack may occur," Minister for Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said after a meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Hassan expressed optimism that the majority of Muslims were fully aware that concerns against Washington's war plan should be conveyed in an orderly fashion.
"We have seen efforts by our inter-faith leaders, who have joined hands in toning down the possible radicalism here, and so far it has worked," Hassan said.
Indonesian Military (TNI) Chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, who attended the meeting, agreed with Hassan, saying that it was the prerogative of the security forces to ensure the safety of all foreigners here.
"However, we have yet to increase the security around foreign interests or embassies, as so far there have been no indications of any threats against them," Endriartono said.
Meanwhile, a number of militant groups have threatened to destroy U.S. interests in the country.
"We are preparing measures to threaten the U.S. interests here and maybe we will raid their citizens...we are not afraid to face security officers," Jaffar Sidiq, the commander of the Islamic Defenders Front, told The Jakarta Post.
"It is clear that should America attack Iraq, they are declaring war against the rest of the world because everyone, not just Muslims, are against their war plans," Jaffar underlined.
The country's moderate Muslim leaders have repeatedly warned the U.S. that attacking Iraq would serve as a reason for radicalism to rise and endanger U.S. interests here.
Late in 2001, the country saw waves of anti-American sentiment when the U.S. attacked Afghanistan for allegedly harboring Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
To anticipate such backlash attacks around the globe, Washington has asked 60 countries to expel 300 Iraqi diplomats, saying that these diplomats would be agents of threat to U.S. interests around the world.
Hassan said that surprisingly, Indonesia was not among the 60 countries, as Washington has not conveyed the request to the government so far.
"I think this is a good sign. The other countries have asked whether Indonesia was among those countries and I said no," the minister remarked.