NAM condemns Israeli aggression

A committee formed by the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to discuss the Israel-Palestine conflict denounced on Saturday the double standards and leniency of developed countries toward Israel's continued aggression against Palestine.

This position, which was initiated by Indonesia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirajuda, was taken during the Non-Aligned Movement's ministerial meeting in Durban, South Africa, which ends on April 29.

The formal statement from the committee condemns Israeli aggression against Palestine, and demands the immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops from all Palestine territories, in accordance with UN resolutions 1402 and 1403.

The committee also agreed to send a NAM representative to meet with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, who is currently confined to his headquarters in Ramallah by Israeli troops.

The statement will be formally announced at the NAM ministerial meeting.

The NAM meeting in South Africa is the latest stop on Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirajuda's current overseas trip.

On April 20, Hassan departed Indonesia to visit three Gulf countries, with the goal of boosting bilateral ties between Indonesia and the oil-rich Arab states. Hassan and his entourage first stopped in Doha, where he held talks with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Hamad bin Jasim bin Jabr al-Thani.

The Indonesian minister arrived in Kuwait on April 22 for a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Akhmad al-Jabir al-Sabah. Hassan then traveled to Abu Dhabi on April 23, where he met with his United Arab Emirates counterpart Sheikh Rashid al-Nuaymi.

Indonesia opened diplomatic ties with Kuwait in 1968, and with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates eight years later.

Hassan continued his trip to Durban, where he is representing Indonesia at the Non-Aligned Movement ministerial meeting being held from April 24 to April 29. -- JP