Megawati says 'no' to war

Megawati says 'no' to war

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Kuala Lumpur

President Megawati Soekarnoputri made her first address on the
Iraq crisis when she spoke before the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
summit which opened on Monday, but she fell short of detailing
initiatives to prevent war.

Representing the world's most populous Muslim country,
Megawati simply joined the bandwagon of worldwide opposition to
any unilateral action by the United States and that Iraq must
comply with United Nations' resolutions.

"Indonesia is firm in its rejection of war as a solution,"
Megawati told the summit.

She even refrained from mentioning the U.S., referring to it
as a "powerful country", which she said had no right to act
unilaterally against the other.

As the country with the largest Muslim population, Indonesia
has been intensively lobbied by Washington and its allies seeking
Jakarta's understanding of any possible attack.

Unlike her move to directly urge North Korea to continue
dialogue with South Korea and the U.S. to settle the nuclear
crisis on the Korean peninsula, Megawati gave no signs of taking
a more active role on Iraq by approaching either Baghdad or
Washington.

But Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Marty Natalegawa
said the government had also tried to play a leading role on the
Iraq issue, saying that Megawati's special envoy and interfaith
group had lobbied many parties on the issue.

"I do not see any differences in our actions regarding the
Iraq and Korea issues, as the President's special envoys have
gone to many countries to lobby many parties regarding both
matters," Marty said.

"We'd rather prove our role by action than by statement."

A group of interfaith leaders are in Europe to convey the
Indonesian people's united stance against war.

In her speech, Megawati said the case of Iraq was a reflection
of the failure of multilateral systems in facing the intention of
strong countries, some saying with oil as its motive, to depose
President Saddam Hussein.

She further called on Iraq to comply with the UN resolution to
avert war and save the lives of the many Iraqis who would die.

"Therefore as a friend and fellow member of this movement,
Indonesia calls on Iraq to abide by its obligations under the
relevant UN Security Council resolutions," Megawati said.

She also urged Israel to comply with the UN resolution in
addressing the Palestinian issue. The Indonesian government also
threw its weight behind a proposal to send UN security forces to
protect civilians in the state.

"From the prevailing problems of different regions, we can
identify a growing trend, where the powerful imposes its will on
the weak. This trend would only advance injustices, which in turn
leads to other forms of violence, namely terrorism," Megawati
said.

A stronger statement on Iraq came from Malaysian Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who said the U.S. plan to strike Iraq
"is no longer just a war against terrorism" but "is in fact a war
to dominate the world."

A draft statement on Iraq to be presented at the end of the
summit Tuesday opposes any war without the support of the UN and
calls on Baghdad to "actively" comply with UN demands that it
disarm.

NAM groups 114 countries, most of them developing nations who
depend on foreign aid, including from the U.S.