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."