`Govt will ensure safety of foreigners'

`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.