Mantiri's nomination withdrawn

JAKARTA (JP): The government yesterday announced that it has withdrawn the appointment of Lt. Gen. (ret.) H.B.L. Mantiri as ambassador to Australia because of the furor the nomination has provoked in the neighboring country.

"The Indonesian government has decided not to proceed any further with the nomination of ambassador H.B.L. Mantiri, and the post of Indonesian ambassador in Canberra will be temporarily left vacant," Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said.

The announcement was the climax of a week-long debacle, marked by Australian demands that the retired general apologize for a comment Mantiri made in relation to the 1991 Dili incident.

"After carefully monitoring the situation, the Indonesian government is of the view that this furor has become irrational in nature and entirely out of proportion," Alatas said at the foreign ministry building yesterday.

Mantiri was originally scheduled to move to Canberra to replace Sabam Siagian, who ends his four-year tenure as ambassador to Australia this month.

Although Canberra had accepted Mantiri's appointment, some Australian politicians and press raised questions about the comments the general made in 1992 in connection with the Dili incident.

In a 1992 interview with the Indonesian magazine Editor, Mantiri said that the actions of troops in a bloody clash with demonstrators which occurred a year earlier were "quite proper". Several dozen people were killed in the Dili incident.

At the time of the interview Mantiri was chief of the Udayana military command, which oversees East Timor. Mantiri himself was not personally involved in the incident, having assumed the command a few months after it occurred.

"The question of the nomination of Ambassador Mantiri appears to have become entangled also in party politics in Australia," Alatas said yesterday.

Alatas said he appreciated the welcoming remarks which Australian Prime Minister Keating had made in relation to Mantiri's nomination, but noted that Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans had continued to demand an apology, despite a statement of regret from Mantiri in relation to the remarks.

"Senator Evans asked for an apology not an expression of regret," he said.

Had Indonesia pressed ahead with the appointment, Mantiri would likely have become the target of agitation from "certain irresponsible elements and...certain political groups" in Australia, Alatas said.

Irrational

It is therefore questionable whether Mantiri would have been able to perform his task "in such an atmosphere of irrationality," he added.

Under "no circumstances" was Jakarta willing to let its envoy, "who is effectively a personal representative of the President" be the target of irrational political campaigns, Alatas said.

"We're not prepared to expose Ambassador Mantiri to such possible humiliation," he said, adding that "in such a situation it's best for us not to become irrational too."

In diplomatic protocol the sudden withdrawal of an ambassador signifies a downgrading of relations between two countries.

When asked what Jakarta's actions meant, Alatas replied: "Well, you know enough of diplomatic rules and you can draw your own conclusion."

The vacant ambassadorial post will now be tackled by the Indonesian charge d'affaires in Canberra, Zakaria Suminta Atmadja.

Despite the possible consequences of fractured diplomatic relations as a result of the withdrawal, Alatas said that the action was in the interests of safeguarding the warming relations between the two peoples and governments.

Asked whether there were other possible candidates to replace Mantiri, Alatas said none had yet been decided upon.

Regarding Mantiri's future, Alatas said it would be only natural for President Soeharto to assign him a new task.

Immediately after the announcement, Gareth Evans said in Canberra that Jakarta's decision was "a helpful one."

"We believe that Australia-Indonesia relations are best served by the course the Indonesian Government has now taken," Evans said in a statement obtained here yesterday.

He said that Mantiri had many strong qualifications as a potential ambassador, but that his earlier comments remained a serious obstacle for his task of representing Indonesia.

"This was the case despite his lack of any personal culpability for the massacre, his very welcome expression of regret that it occurred and his stated willingness to, if not express regret for, at least clarify his unfortunate 1992 remark," Evans said.

In Jakarta, political scientist Ikrar Nusa Bhakti of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences said Mantiri's withdrawal could have been a concession made in view of the difficult domestic situation in Australia.

"There's a possibility that Mantiri's withdrawal was a request from Australia, even though it wasn't done openly," he said, as quoted by Antara.

Also yesterday, Indonesian legislator Aminulah Ibrahim of the Armed Forces faction said he hoped that the withdrawal would help cool down the situation and allow relations to resume normally in the near future. (mds)