Jakarta rejects U.S. call to expel Iraqi diplomats

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia flatly rejected on Friday the United States' call for the expulsion of Iraqi diplomats here, saying that ties between Jakarta and Baghdad was not Washington's concern.

Jakarta firmly stated that there was no need for Indonesia to suspend ties with Iraq and expel its diplomats.

"There is no need to do so, as bilateral relations are the concern of the host and the related country," Vice President Hamzah Haz said.

He said Indonesia's foreign policy, which maintains the principle of neutrality, would not be swayed by pressure from outside parties.

Hours after the war in Iraq began, Washington called on all countries that recognize the current Iraqi government to shut down that country's diplomatic missions.

Countries were also asked to prevent the destruction of documents in Iraqi embassies and consulates and to freeze Iraq's bank accounts so the money could be used by a postwar government.

A spokesman for the Indonesian foreign ministry, Marty Natalegawa, said no third country had the right to interfere in Indonesia's bilateral relations with other counties.

This position, he said, was in line with Indonesia's consistent rejection of unilateral action to disarm Iraq since the beginning of the crisis last year.

He added that the government had not received a formal request from Washington to close the Iraqi embassy here.

On Thursday, President Megawati Soekarnoputri strongly deplored the U.S. strike on Iraq, calling it an act of aggression.

Although Jakarta said its position would not result in ties with Washington being severed, it is obvious that Indonesia's stance will put relations to the test.

Associated Press quoted U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher as saying on Friday that Iraqi diplomats should be expelled as they represented a "corrupt and ruthless regime".

Several weeks ago, Washington asked 62 countries, not including Indonesia, to shut down Iraqi diplomatic missions.

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said through her spokesman on Friday that Manila had yet to receive a formal U.S. request to expel Iraqi diplomats, but that Manila would act in keeping with its national interests.

The Philippines did announce it would deport 11 Iraqis being held on suspicion of terrorism. The 11 were detained after an alleged plot by Saddam Hussein sympathizers to attack U.S. installations in the country was uncovered.

Among those arrested was a suspect in the 1991 attempted bombing of a U.S. cultural center building in Manila's financial district of Makati, Philippine immigration commissioner Andrea Domingo said.

The suspect, identified as Saad Khahamatar T'laa, was picked up two days ago in southern Zamboanga city. Officials had previously said he was arrested in Davao city.

The Iraqis were arrested after "intelligence reports confirmed that terrorist groups sympathetic to the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein were planning attacks against several American targets in the country in retaliation for the US-led war against Iraq", Domingo said.

The Philippines is a key ally of the United States and is part of the Washington-led "Coalition for the Immediate Disarmament of Iraq".

In Bangkok, Iraq's embassy remained open on Friday despite the global call by the U.S. to shut Baghdad's missions and freeze its assets, as Thailand stressed it had received no such request.

"We are still open," an Iraqi official at the embassy told AFP, adding that the ambassador remained at his post.

A special branch of the Thai police in charge of foreign missions also confirmed the embassy was operational.

Three Iraqi diplomats and eight other Iraqis were expelled from Thailand this week, accused of posing national security threats to the kingdom.

Thailand's foreign ministry said it had not heard Washington's latest request to governments worldwide to sever ties with Saddam Hussein's regime, shut down Iraq's embassies and freeze its assets until new authorities are in power in Baghdad.

"Thailand has not received any request," ministry spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow said.

"If the U.S. requests that, we have to consider it," he said. "But how can the assets of the embassy of Iraq be seized? It is not legal, we have relations."

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department temporarily closed embassies and consulates in 15 countries on Thursday. The decision was based on a judgment of the security situation in those countries by American diplomats there.