Indonesia mission in Kabul left dormant
Indonesia mission in Kabul left dormant
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia will await recommendations from the United Nations
regarding Afghanistan before resuming diplomatic relations with
any future Kabul government in the wake of the Taliban regime's
fall, an official said on Thursday.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Director for Africa and the
Middle East Primo Alwi Joelianto said that Jakarta would adopt a
stance taken by the UN that, on Wednesday, endorsed international
efforts to support the establishment of a new government in
Afghanistan.
"We never severed diplomatic ties with Afghanistan (under the
administration of former president Burhanuddin Rabbani) and we
we do not acknowledge the Taliban regime, so in the past five
years, after the Taliban takeover, we practically have not had
any political relations with Afghanistan," Primo told The Jakarta
Post.
"Of course, we have to wait for a UN decision before resuming
diplomatic relations with any future Kabul government," he
stressed.
Indonesia, which has had full diplomatic ties with Afghanistan
since the 1950s, recalled its embassy staff from Kabul in 1998.
"We have a building that was used as the residence of our
ambassador in Kabul. We assigned a local employee to take care of
the place," he said, adding that Afghanistan also kept its
embassy in Jakarta after the Rabbani administration was deposed.
"The former Rabbani administration recalled its ambassador in
1998 and replaced him with charge d'affaires Fateh Muhammad
Shirzai. We still have regular contact with the representative,"
he said, noting that the Indonesian government has helped finance
the representative since 1996.
Meanwhile, ministry spokesman Wahid Supriyadi reaffirmed on
Thursday Indonesia's readiness to join a UN peacekeeping mission
in Afghanistan and made a fresh call on the U.S. to halt military
strikes during the Islamic holy month of Ramadhan.
"We stick to our stance. If we join the peacekeeping force,
our purpose is to maintain peace and not to see continuing air
strikes," Wahid noted.
Wahid explained that Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan
Wirayuda was in New York to attend the UN General Assembly
scheduled for Friday and that establishment of a UN peacekeeping
force for a post-Taliban government would be discussed.
He also said that Indonesia would have to receive a formal
request before the government agreed to contribute personnel to a
peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.