RI awaits UN for Afghanistan mission
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government on Wednesday said it was awaiting a formal request from the United Nations to deploy troops as part of its probable peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan as Muslim leaders here approved the country's planned participation.
"We will take part in the (probable) UN mission if requested," Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno said after attending a coordination meeting of cabinet members overseeing social, political and security affairs.
"As long as it is under the umbrella of the U.N., Indonesia will meet a request to send peacekeeping troops because Indonesia is a member of the world body," he said.
However, Hari said the willingness of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, to join the peacekeeping mission was not discussed in the meeting.
Minister of Defense Matori Abdul Djalil confirmed that Jakarta was ready to participate in the likely multinational peacekeeping force. "We are still waiting for a formal request from the U.N."
Wahid Supriyadi, acting spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Indonesia would accept a possible UN request to participate in the peacekeeping mission.
"If the UN decides to send international peacekeepers to Afghanistan, we will respond to it positively. And we are ready to join," he told The Jakarta Post.
The UN will likely bow to growing demands to form a multinational peacekeeping force in Afghanistan following the fall of the capital Kabul into the hands of the opposing Northern Alliance fighters. Forces of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance entered Kabul on Tuesday after defeating Taliban forces north of the capital. The UN has been urged to take over security in Kabul and declare it a demilitarized zone.
Despite not yet officially setting up a force, the UN is reportedly making some plans for a combined mission that will most likely draw from moderate Muslim nations, including Indonesia, Turkey, Bangladesh and Jordan.
Most, if not all, of the participants will be from predominantly Muslim countries in order to avoid the impression that Afghanistan is being occupied by Western powers.
On Tuesday, hours before Northern Alliance forces entered Kabul, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he saw an immediate need to send an international "coalition of the willing" led by soldiers from Muslim nations to secure Kabul.
Indonesian Military (TNI) Chief of General Affairs Lieut. Gen. Djamari Chaniago said his office had not yet received a formal request to join such a mission.
TNI spokesman Air Vice Marshall Graito Usodo said the military would prepare troops and other necessary aspects if such a request were made.
"We will carry out this mission under the U.N. umbrella. The most credible party will be the U.N.," he said, but sternly added that the decision to deploy troops to Afghanistan depends on the government.
Muslim leaders in Jakarta welcomed the government's plan to join UN peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan.
Yahya Muhaimin, co-chairman of the Muhammadiyah Islamic organization, said the plan was a good move to help restore peace in the world.
"It means that our troops purely want to create peace in that country (Afghanistan) and that they will neither defend the Taliban nor the Northern Alliance," Yahya told The Jakarta Post.
Co-chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama Islamic organization Solahuddin Wahid said Indonesia's role in Afghanistan would show how important it is for the nation to assist in stopping the war there.
He and Yahya said they believed TNI troops could be accepted by the warring factions in Afghanistan as long as they manage to maintain neutrality.
Amidhan of the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI), the nation's top Islamic authority, said the country's participation would be "consistent with the government's policy on Afghanistan", which demanded an active role of the UN in halting the war.
However, Solahuddin added that it would be better for the government to first take into consideration the national security problem here before deciding to send peacekeepers to Afghanistan.
"I don't know whether we have enough security forces to solve security problems at home if we end up sending a peacekeeping force to Afghanistan. If we have enough, it should be okay because we have a lot of experience in doing the same (UN peacekeeping missions) in the past," he told the Post.
Indonesia previously sent forces to several UN peacekeeping missions, including the Suez Canal and the Congo more than 40 years ago. More recently, thousands of troops were also sent to hotspots such as Cambodia and Bosnia in the 1990s. Jakarta has described the peacekeeping deployments as a "successful" contribution in restoring peace and security across the world.
Participation in a peacekeeping mission might also benefit the political and diplomatic fortunes of President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who has yet to demonstrate her administration's ability to perform well after more than three months of governing.
Indonesia has condemned the September 11 terror attacks on New York and the Pentagon, and backed the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism. But at the same time Jakarta also opposes U.S. bombing of the Taliban.
RI's peacekeeping roles
(Destination, Year): 1. Suez Canal, 1957; 2. Congo, 1960-1964; 3. Vietnam, 1973-1974; 4. Arab-Israel, 1973-1979; 5. Namibia, 1989-1990; 6. Cambodia, 1992-1994; 7. Somalia, 1992-1995; 8. Bosnia, 1993-1999; 9. Mozambique, 1994; 10. The Philippines, 1994-1997