More inspection, not war, should follow U.S. report: RI
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Fresh suspicions fanned by a United States report over Iraq's alleged hidden weapons of mass destruction should be used as case for intensified United Nations inspections, not war, Indonesia said on Thursday.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda refused to call U.S. State Secretary Colin Powell's report on Iraq a smoking gun that justified war.
"For Indonesia this evidence must still be verified and checked further by the UN inspection team," he told reporters following a Cabinet meeting.
Powell presented to the UN Security Council on Wednesday a multi-media case for considering Iraq in "material breach" of UN resolution 1441. The resolution orders the disarmament of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
Powell drew a disturbing picture of Iraq maintaining and producing an arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, more than a decade after the UN had first ordered their destruction.
Hassan described the information, pooled from telephone taps and satellite photos, as intelligence reports.
"To the U.S. this may be enough to declare Iraq uncooperative and launch a military strike." But Indonesia, he said, agreed with Germany, France and China to extend the work of the UN inspection team in Iraq.
"The consequence of a war is too big to bear, not just for Iraq but also for the world," he said.
Indonesia has demanded that any actions against Iraq should be taken under a UN framework, and said a U.S.-led unilateral strike against Iraq was unacceptable.
The U.S. has often intimated that it would not need a U.N. mandate to attack Iraq, insisting that Baghdad posed too serious threat to be ignored.
Powell's presentation did not alter the prospect of a war in Iraq since the U.S. had already made up its mind about it, claimed foreign political analyst Riza Sihbudi of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).
"The presentation was simply an effort to maintain U.S. ties with other countries," he said.
Washington has been trying to woo skeptical allies such as France and Germany into supporting a military strike. But its message so far has been mostly akin to U.S. President George W. Bush's "either you are with us or against us" remark after the Sept. 11 terrorist strike.
The U.S. ambassador in Berlin, Daniel Coats, said that "serious doubts" were emerging in the U.S. as to whether Germany was still a reliable ally given its anti-war stance, AFP reported.
Indonesia's ties with the U.S. would also come under pressure with or without a U.N. mandated war in Iraq, foreign political analysts threatened.
They warned the U.S. that it was exposing its interests here to a risk of violent backlashes from radical groups should it attack Iraq.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, has seen a rise in anti-American sentiment since the U.S. launched its global war on terrorism.
Legislators reiterated on Thursday their objection to the U.S. going it alone in Iraq, saying it would set a bad precedent to the world.
Chairman of the House of Representatives Commission I on political, security and foreign affairs, Ibrahim Ambong said the U.S. could not attack Iraq if the UN's inspection team extended its work in that country.
Sutradara Ginting of the House's Indonesian Nationhood Unity (KKI) faction warned of a rise in radicalism on the back of U.S. war talks.
Numerous anti-U.S. demonstrations have led to tighter security in and around the U.S. embassy in Jakarta.
About half of its staff was sent home shortly before the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks as well as the Oct. 12 Bali terror bombs, and embassy officials said they had no plans of bringing them back.
Brisk progress has been made in catching the alleged bombers behind the Bali blast, which killed at least seven American vacationers, but as the extent of their network here was still unclear, analysts said American interests remain at risk of attack.