Howard arrives for two-day visit amid looming Iraq war
Howard arrives for two-day visit amid looming Iraq war
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Australian Prime Minister John Howard arrived here on Friday on a
two-day working visit amid uneasy bilateral relations concerning
a possible attack on Iraq.
The visit will be dominated by talks about possible war on
Iraq, investigation into the Bali bombing and other bilateral
issues, possibly including the touchy subject of people-
smuggling.
The Australian premier has said he will tell President
Megawati Soekarnoputri that Australia's backing for a possible
U.S.-led war on Iraq has nothing to do with Islam.
"Indonesia is the largest Islamic country in the world and I
wanted the opportunity to say to the President that our concerns
about Iraq were not, of course, based in any way on religion or
Islam," he was quoted by AFP as telling the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) before his arrival.
"We have no quarrel with Islam or Islamic countries."
Howard is on his way home from talks in Washington and London
about the Iraqi crisis.
Upon arrival, Howard made no statement and was greeted by
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono at Halim Perdanakusumah air base.
The prime minister is scheduled to meet President Megawati
Soekarnoputri on Saturday.
He is also slated to meet with several Muslim leaders and the
Bali bombing investigating team from the Australian Federal
Police before flying back to Canberra on Saturday evening.
Australia is considered the strongest supporter after Britain
of Washington's tough stance against Baghdad over its alleged
weapons of mass destruction. Australia has already deployed some
2,000 military personnel to the Gulf.
Indonesia opposes any military action without United Nations
blessing. A series of antiwar protests have been staged in the
country.
Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Marty
Natalegawa warned that Canberra's stance of supporting an attack
on Iraq would likely provoke negative reactions from many
Indonesian groups.
Already, an official with the country's largest Muslim
organization, the Nahdlatul Ulama, said he had rejected an
invitation to meet Howard.
"After considering Australian policy on the U.S. planned
military aggression against Iraq, I decided to shun the
discussion," Ahmad Bagdja was quoted by state Antara news agency
as saying.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Minister of Justice and Human Rights
Yusril Ihza Mahendra said that Indonesia rejected Australia's
request for the extradition of alleged people-smuggler Egyptian
Abu Quassey, saying "Australia too takes much and gives too
little."
He said that Abu Quassey would be extradited to his home
country.
Marty said, however, that differences over Iraq as well as
thorny bilateral issues should not worsen bilateral relations.
"The two countries have survived many bad situations in our
bilateral relations and we can certainly survive the current
differences," he remarked.