President Megawati to urge multilateralism in UN assembly

President Megawati to urge multilateralism in UN assembly

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri will highlight the importance of
multilateralism and reform of the United Nations body in her
coming speech in front of the UN General Assembly.

"We have seen such as in the Iraq case, unilateralism will not
benefit any country," spokesman of the ministry of foreign
affairs Marty Natalegawa said at the weekly press briefing on
Friday.

He said that in her address on the opening day of the session,
Sept. 23, the President will also call for reform inside of the
UN Security Council.

The agency no longer had moral and political weight in solving
conflicts around the world, Marty argued.

"The Security Council is no longer representative, as it is no
longer has any moral and political weight in settling
international conflict," he said.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, has
consistently supported multilateralism and the idea of enhancing
the UN's role in settling international conflicts.

In international issues such as Iraq and Palestinian, Jakarta
continues to be a strong opponent of the United States, that
tends to sideline the UN.

Marty said the U.S.'s recent veto on the UN resolution, which
urged Israel to halt its threats to expel or assassinate the
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, was again another example of
the ineffectiveness of the UN Security Council.

Indonesia was a staunch opponent of the U.S.-led invasion of
Iraq, which was launched without United Nations authorization.

Earlier this month, Marty said Megawati would also use her
address to representatives of the 191 UN member nations to
"clarify our efforts to overcome the terrorist threat in
Indonesia".

He was quoted by AFP as saying then that Indonesia knows the
world is concerned about what is being done to counter terrorism
after the Aug. 5 bombing at the JW Marriott Hotel that killed 12
Indonesians and a Dutch banker.

Police have linked the Marriott attack to the Jamaah Islamiyah
regional extremist network, which is also blamed for last
October's bombings on the resort island of Bali that left dead
202 people, mostly Western tourists.

Authorities have said JI is based in Indonesia, has some links
to al-Qaeda, and has planned attacks throughout Southeast Asia.

In an August speech to mark the 36th anniversary of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Megawati said a
recent surge in unilateralism was a threat to democracy.

Megawati will leave for New York on Sunday morning as she will
make a stopover in Singapore for a few hours, before continuing
the journey to New York.

Marty said Megawati is scheduled to hold talks with UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe on the sidelines of the UN meeting in New York.