Indonesian killed in Mosul ambush

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Indonesian national Fahmi Achmad, 27, who was working for German telecommunications company Siemens, was confirmed killed in an ambush on Sunday in Mosul in northern Iraq, a foreign ministry official said.

Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa confirmed on Monday the identity of the slain Indonesian upon verification by Siemens.

"It's very likely that the Fahmi's remains will be flown through Damascus," Marty told Antara, although the necessary arrangements would take some time.

The identity of the Indonesian national killed in Iraq had been unclear earlier on Monday, as concerned parties gave conflicting statements, while the government tried to establish the authenticity of the news.

The Indonesian Embassy in neighboring Jordan sent two officials on Monday to Mosul to identify the victim.

"It is unclear whether he is an Indonesian (citizen) under that name, and there are conflicting statements on which company he worked for. So we decided to send our officials to Mosul," deputy foreign ministry spokesman Yuri Thamrin told The Jakarta Post.

He said no flights to Mosul were available, so the two officials had to travel by land into the war-torn country to identify the victim.

Maria Ulfa, who claimed to be Fahmi's sister, said her brother was building telecommunication lines for Siemens in Iraq.

"He left for Iraq on May 28 and Siemens paid for his travel arrangements," she told the Post on Monday, adding that the family learned about Fahmi's death early Monday morning.

It was not immediately clear who informed the family about the incident and the identity of the slain Indonesian.

Maria also said that Fahmi, who was a telecommunications engineer graduate, was assigned to set up telephone networks in northern Iraq.

However, Siemens Indonesia corporate communication official Julieta F. Glasmacher said none of the company's Indonesian employees were stationed in Iraq.

"We do not have any employee under that name, there is no policy at Siemens Indonesia to station our employee in Iraq," she told the Post.

AFP reported earlier this year that Siemens won a US$8.6 million contract to provide equipment for mobile operator Asia Cell to develop a GSM network in northern Iraq.

In June, however, Siemens withdrew all its German employees from Iraq for security reasons.

Yuri said the government had issued a warning against traveling to Iraq a month before the war began last year, and evacuated all of its nationals from that country.

The government also closed down its Iraqi mission and moved its officials to Jordan.

"We cannot stop people from going to Iraq, but please, we've warned not to go to the country as it remains dangerous," Yuri said, adding that Indonesians who insisted on entering Iraq should inform the embassy in Jordan.

He also said seven Indonesian students chose to continue their studies in Iraq, and that two Iraqi staffers were taking care of the Indonesian Embassy compound in Baghdad.