Joining Afghan peace mission imperative for Indonesia: Susilo
Joining Afghan peace mission imperative for Indonesia: Susilo
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
As the country with the largest Muslim population, Indonesia
should join an international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan,
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono said in the North Sumatran capital of Medan on
Sunday.
Talking to reporters after meeting with Aceh Nanggroe
Darussalam officials here, Susilo said that, based on the
responsibilities of being part of the world community, we should
accept a request to join an international peacekeeping force in
Afghanistan as a humanitarian appeal, as long as it did not harm
our national interests.
"And as long as the peacekeeping force is under the
coordination of the United Nations," he said.
"Indonesia will do nothing unless we have received the United
Nations' request, and unless we study the request very carefully
beforehand," he reiterated.
"We have yet to receive an official UN request, despite our
acknowledgement that the UN is still preparing things for a
multinational peacekeeping force in Afghanistan following the
fall of the capital of Kabul into the hands of the opposing
Northern Alliance fighters.
"What has happened in Afghanistan is not just a matter of
terrorism, but also the long suffering of the Afghans who have
been trapped in one conflict after another," he said.
Separately in Jakarta, top legislator Aisyah Aminy urged the
government not to join an international peacekeeping force even
if the request had come from the UN, saying that Indonesia needed
all its available forces to deal with domestic problems.
She warned that Indonesia could be dragged into the messy
Afghan war if it took part in a UN peacekeeping operation.
"We don't have to send our troops there because our domestic
problems require more intense attention from the Indonesian
Military and the National Police," Aisyah of the Muslim United
Development Party (PPP) was quoted by Antara as saying.
"We're still facing a threat of disintegration," she said,
referring to conflicts in Aceh, Irian Jaya and other hot spots.
The death of Papuan separatist leader Theys Hiyo Eluay last
week had further heightened these fears, she added.
Aisyah said the involvement of the United States had turned
the Afghan conflict into an international war. If Indonesia were
to send its troops there, it could be dragged into the war, she
said.
The circumstances were different from those surrounding the
peacekeeping operations in the Philippines in the 1990s, in which
Indonesia took part, she recalled, stressing that in the
Philippines it was essentially a local war.
Aisyah said the government should first consult with the House
of Representatives before deciding on Indonesia's participation
in a peacekeeping operation in Afghanistan.
Four factions in the House, the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), Golkar and the Crescent Star Party
(PBB), as well as the PPP, had earlier cautioned the government
over the peacekeeping mission.
Susilo commented in Medan on Sunday that all criticism and
warnings were worthy of input to the government. "Any citizen
must put domestic concerns as the top priority. Therefore, let's
not be engaged in polemics."