Indonesia's neighbors concerned over riots

Indonesia's neighbors concerned over riots

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Malaysia said yesterday that it is
concerned over unrest in Indonesia and is closely monitoring the
situation.

"We are of course concerned, monitoring this very closely,"
Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told reporters. "But we wish
them all the best, that they are able to resolve this period of
difficulties."

In Bangkok, Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai expressed hopes
yesterday that riots in Indonesia would not escalate, but said he
could not forecast an end to the violence.

Thailand's powerful army chief Chetta Thanajaro added that the
Thai military was prepared to evacuate some 500 Thais living in
Indonesia if the situation deteriorated.

"I cannot predict the situation there because of the
distance...but only offer support and hope that Indonesia would
manage to find peace and solutions," Chuan said.

"As a friend and ASEAN (Association of South East Asian
Nations) member, we must offer assistance as its problems would
affect us one way or the other."

Chuan said Thailand would feel the negative economic impact of
the Indonesian violence but the shock would be less severe than
that felt by Singapore or Malaysia.

Army commander in chief Chetta said he expected Indonesia's
President Soeharto to control the spreading riots and protests.

"I think President Soeharto will eventually manage to keep the
situation under control," Chetta told reporters.

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said China
is concerned over the riots in Indonesia and hoped the crisis-
ridden country could maintain national harmony.

"We have noticed unrest in some areas of Indonesia recently,
and the Chinese side voices its concern over this," Zhu told a
regular news briefing.

In Canberra, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said the
worsening violence in Indonesia was deeply disturbing and urged
security forces there to exercise restraint in dealing with the
protests.

"The disturbances which have occurred are deeply disturbing,"
Howard said.

"We express the profound hope that there will be no more
violence and no more deaths, and we ask the government of
Indonesia to ensure that the security forces of the country
behave with appropriate restraint," he said.

Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer, said
mounting instability and violence in Indonesia were putting
severe pressure on President Soeharto's government.

"It's not for me to get into speculating about the politics of
other countries, but obviously the Soeharto regime is under a
great deal of pressure now," Downer told Sydney radio 2UE, when
asked if the violence spelt the end for Soeharto's government.

"A near neighbor is in a state of instability -- it doesn't
mean there's going to be any direct effect on our country, but it
obviously is a matter for concern and something we have to
watch."

Change

The leader of Australia's Labor opposition party, Kim Beazley,
said the student deaths meant the instability could not be
ignored anymore and the government now had to use its influence
to force change in Indonesia.

"Not only does it contain within it the seeds of potentially
terrible loss of life in Indonesia, it has also got a regional
outreach that none of Indonesia's good friends and neighbors can
ignore," Beazley told reporters.

"There has to be a political transition. There has to be
political change."

In London, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said Indonesia
was paying the price for ignoring his warnings last year that
civil liberties were critical to economic success.

Cook, speaking to BBC radio, also stressed that Britain's new
Labour government had refused to sell Indonesia equipment that
could be used for internal repression.

Cook said what was happening in Indonesia, where mobs have
rampaged through the capital Jakarta for three days, underscored
the importance of open government to a flourishing economy.

"In Jakarta last August I said that civil liberty and open
government were not the enemies of economic success. Nowadays
they are conditions for it," said Cook, who has vowed to make
Britain's foreign policy more ethically based.

"Sadly what is currently happening in Indonesia actually
underlines how true that is and how tragic it is that the
government of Indonesia have not grasped that ... yet," he said.

Cook said that although some British equipment -- such as
water cannon -- has been used to suppress riots in Indonesia,
none of it had been exported since the Labour government took
power.

"Sadly it does appear to be the case that some of the
equipment used in those riots are from Britain," he said.

"They would, of course, not have been sold under the new
criteria which we brought in and under which we have refused
seven applications from Indonesia very much for the type of
equipment that the previous government did sell," he said.

"We made a very clear distinction between legitimate defense
exports for self-defense which could not be used for internal
repression and equipment, such as equipment sold by the last
government like the water cannons, which can be."

In Moscow, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers
said all sides in the political conflict in Indonesia should show
restraint and begin a dialog.

"Clearly, as a number of U.S. officials have stated, restraint
on all sides is very important. Opening up to political dialog is
essential," he said, adding that economic problems, not
International Monetary Fund remedies, had created the conditions
that have caused popular unrest.

Asked whether the IMF had contributed to the crisis, he said:
"I think it is very important not to confuse the doctor with the
disease."

Summers, who was in Moscow for meetings with Russian
officials, said: "The fundamental cause of price increases,
inflationary pressures, is the econ conditions...rather than the
program that is in place with the IMF."

The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta urged American citizens to defer
non-essential travel to Indonesia, an official said Thursday.

Mike Owens, the No. 2 official at the U.S. Embassy, said
dependents of embassy staff and non-essential personnel were also
free to leave the country.

Japan

Meanwhile, Japan, the main financial backer of Indonesia, said
yesterday that it was becoming very concerned about growing
unrest in Indonesia.

Chief government spokesman Kanezo Muraoka said Japan was
closely monitoring the situation in Indonesia which in the year
to last March received aid totaling 215.25 billion yen (US$1.60
billion) from Tokyo.

"We are very concerned (about the situation in Indonesia),"
Muraoka told his regular daily news conference.

Asked about the safety of Japanese citizens in Indonesia,
estimated at around 20,000 including tourists, Muraoka said: "We
are carefully monitoring the situation."

But he said Japan's military was not considering at this stage
sending planes to Indonesia to evacuate its citizens.

In Bonn, a senior German government official said the world's
major industrial nations would discuss the economic crisis and
social unrest rocking Indonesia at its Birmingham summit this
weekend.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there
had been significant progress in calming the financial crisis in
Korea and Thailand, but added that political problems remained in
Indonesia. "I expect this to be discussed by the chiefs in
Birmingham."

Germany yesterday warned its citizens not to travel to
Indonesia.

"Because of the tense situation in Indonesia the Foreign
Ministry advises travelers not to go to Indonesia (with the
exception of Bali) for the time being," the ministry said.

The European Union on Wednesday called on the Indonesian
government to investigate deaths in recent disturbances and to
refrain from lethal force.

"The recent upsurge in violence and loss of life in Indonesia
is disturbing," said a statement released by the Foreign Office
in Britain, the current president of the EU.

"The EU has frequently urged the Indonesian authorities to
exercise maximum restraint in handling civil disturbances and
stressed the importance of respecting freedom of association and
speech. The confrontation with the students underlines the urgent
need for political reform in Indonesia," the statement said.