Indonesian killed in Mosul ambush

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.