NAM condemns Israeli aggression

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