No diplomatic ties with Israel: RI

Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia will not establish diplomatic ties with Israel unless peace is established in the Middle East, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda has said.

"Our position is very clear: We want a peaceful settlement in the Israel-Palestinian conflict and we expect Palestine to be able to establish its own independent state and live peacefully side by side with Israel," he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting about security in the Strait of Malacca here on Wednesday.

Hassan was commenting on reports that Israel was trying to revive low-level ties with Muslim nations that have been largely dormant during more than four years of the conflict, and it was also trying to establish new ones.

Israel made progress last week when Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom met publicly for the first time with his Pakistani counterpart, Khursheed Kasuri.

However, Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said there would be no full relations with Israel until a Palestinian state is set up, AP reported on Tuesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Silvan Shalom is also planning a visit to Tunisia in November to participate in a UN conference.

Hassan said that as of Wednesday, he had not received any messages from Israel on the latter's intentions.