Quick UN mission in Afghanistan urged

Kurniawan Hari and Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Muslim leaders and scholars here on Sunday urged the United Nations to immediately launch peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan to halt the war that continued to rage despite calls for restraint during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadhan.

"Letting troops from the United States and its allies continue their strikes on Afghanistan would only create complicated problems because of the various factions there," Azyumardi Azra, rector of Jakarta's Syarif Hidayatullah State Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN), told The Jakarta Post.

He said the UN's presence was badly needed to "help the process of creating a transitional government" in Afghanistan following the fall of Kabul to Northern Alliance opposition forces.

As the world's most populous Muslim country and one of the moderate Islamic nations, Azyumardi said, Indonesia should continue to encourage the deployment of a UN peace-keeping force in Afghanistan.

"We should continue to push for the UN to come to Afghanistan. This is the only realistic way we can propose to help restore peace there," he said.

UN officials had said the world body was preparing a blueprint for a post-Taliban government in Afghanistan as several Western and Muslim countries suggested that the UN launch peacekeeping operations there.

However, the UN apparently was reluctant to do so despite continued U.S. bombing of positions near Kandahar and Kundus, the Taliban's two remaining strongholds.

Indonesia has offered to contribute troops to a possible UN multinational force to Afghanistan, a move that would likely please Washington, its allies and Muslim nations.

Azyumardi said the possible international force should largely consist of troops from Muslim nations in order to avoid a biased stance in their peacekeeping operations.

Ahmad Syafii Ma'arif, chairman of the second largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah, concurred, saying the UN's peacekeeping role was urgent in Afghanistan.

However, he questioned the UN's courage to come to Afghanistan and doubted that it would exercise a fair stance in the possible peacekeeping mission.

"It (the UN's presence) will be the best solution. But I doubt if the UN has the courage (to go to Afghanistan), because it is still being controlled by the U.S.," Syafii told the Post.

"I don't believe that the UN will be fair," he added.

Also doubting the neutrality of the UN was Din Syamsuddin, secretary general of the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) -- the nation's top Islamic authority. "The UN has become the instrument of developed countries to oppress underdeveloped nations," he said.

Din said the UN's presence was important to create peace, but it should not be designed to interfere in the formation of a new government in Afghanistan.

"We should leave this matter to the Afghan people to decide. If the UN plays a role in the establishment of an administration in Afghanistan, there will be subjectivity, like what it has done in East Timor," he said.

Din warned the UN against possible "U.S. camouflage" in the proposed deployment of international peacekeepers to justify its bombardments.

Syafii and Azyumardi criticized the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) for not taking an active role in dealing with the Afghanistan conflicts.

Syafii said the OIC's silence had prompted the U.S.'s arrogance, and that the "fragmented stance" of Muslim-based nations on the Afghanistan war hampered their efforts to adopt a peaceful solution.

Azyumardi said it would be "unrealistic" to expect the OIC to play a pro-active role in halting more bloodshed in the Islamic state because the organization was still "dominated by the U.S. politically and economically".

He also criticized the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) for their weak roles in responding to the raging violence in Afghanistan.

Asked about alternative ways of resolving the Afghan conflicts, Syafii said: "I think the U.S. must listen to its conscience and stop its military strikes".

He said the unstoppable U.S.-led military campaign against Afghanistan had clearly shown that America was anti-civilization.

"It's true that the Taliban rulers are mean. But with its military campaign, the U.S. has only brought more misery to the people of Afghanistan," he said.

He said he believed the U.S. would not cease its attacks even if Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Umar and terrorist suspect Osama bin Laden were apprehended.

Syafii said the military campaign was only an instrument of the U.S. to occupy a territory in the east of the Caspian sea, believed to hold approximately 270 million barrels worth of oil reserves.