Palestinian Ambassador row settled: Minister

JAKARTA (JP): The government said on Monday that the row between Jakarta and Palestinian Ambassador to Indonesia Ribhi Awad over his purported criticism of the government's stance over the Middle East crisis was considered settled.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with the Palestinian envoy, Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab said the government would not pursue its intention of seeking Awad's replacement.

"He has made a clarification and correction that there has been a misunderstanding and that the Palestinians have never felt that they had been abandoned by the Indonesian government," Alwi said.

"I think it is not necessary to continue with this case," he added.

The controversy erupted in Jakarta last week when the head of the Palestinian delegation to the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) conference, Salem Al-Za'noon, after meeting with People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais, expressed disappointment with the Indonesian government for failing to support Palestine during the recent conflict with Israel.

Al-Za'noon further criticized President Abdurrahman Wahid's refusal to resign from the Shimon Peres Foundation, which he claimed helped fund Jewish settlements on Palestinian land.

The criticism came as a surprise because Indonesia has remained an adamant supporter of the Palestinian cause. Jakarta has also repeatedly refused to recognize and open diplomatic ties with Israel.

In Seoul last week, Alwi put the blame for the Palestinian statement on Ambassador Awad's failure to convey accurate information on Indonesia's stance on the Middle East crisis.

He said at the time that he would seek clarification from Awad once he returned to Jakarta and if the latter failed to make a clarification, Jakarta would write to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat requesting him to send a new envoy.

Awad said on Monday that "there has been a 100 percent misinterpretation and misunderstanding".

"I deplore in the name of the Palestinians the attitude of some circles who tried to exploit the matter," he said without elaborating further.

He appealed to "all parties and factions not to exploit" the matter "to gain some personal benefits or to try to injure another party".

However, Awad did not specify which parts of the Palestinian delegation's statement were misinterpreted or what the misunderstanding was. (byg)