RI condemns Israel's killing of Rantissi

RI condemns Israel's killing of Rantissi

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim populous nation, strongly
condemned on Sunday Israel's assassination of top Hamas leader
Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, saying it clearly demonstrated the Jewish
state's lack of commitment toward the ongoing Middle East peace
process.

"Israel has once again ... disregarded international law and
world opinion by carrying out the unspeakable murder and
political assassination, which the Indonesian government condemns
in the strongest terms," Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
spokesman Marty A. Natalegawa told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Israel killed Rantissi and two of his bodyguards on Saturday
in an air strike on his car as it drove near his house in the
Sheik Radwan neighborhood in Gaza.

"Unfortunately, the Israeli action reaffirmed what has been
obvious; namely, its lack of commitment to the peace process in
the Middle East," Marty said.

He said that the killing could cause a surge in violence and
make peace more difficult to achieve through talks between
Israelis and Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Riza Sihbudi -- a respected scholar who is an
authority on Middle East affairs -- said Israel's assassination
of Rantissi showed that both U.S. President George W. Bush and
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon were not serious about the
Middle East peace process.

"Condemning is not enough. As long as Bush and Sharon are in
power, we can't hope for too much from the peace process in the
Middle East," he told the Post, adding that Bush's endorsement of
Sharon's proposal on retaining Jewish settlements in the West
Bank had further confirmed the lack of seriousness about the
peace process on the part of the U.S.

Riza, a researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences
(LIPI), called on Islamic nations to respond immediately to
recent developments in the Middle East and initiate concrete
action.

"What we need now is concrete action from the Organization of
the Islamic Conference (OIC). The organization must fully support
all the efforts to create peace in the Middle East," Riza told
the Post.

The 57-nation OIC, according to Riza, could impose a boycott
on the United States for its policies both in Iraq and the Middle
East conflict.

Malaysia, the current leader of the OIC, said on Friday that
it would hold an OIC foreign ministers meeting on April 22 to
discuss increasing violence in Iraq and the Palestinian
territories.

The killing came just three days after a meeting between Bush
and Sharon in Washington.

Bush, a close ally of Israel, endorsed on Wednesday Israeli
plans to retain Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Indonesia reacted strongly to Bush's endorsement amid fears
that it would further sabotage the already-fragile peace process
in the Middle East.

Rantissi was killed less than a month after the Israeli army
assassinated Sheikh Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas, also
in air strike in Gaza city.

The Indonesian government earlier condemned the murder of
Yassin and asking the UN to put pressure on Israel to ensure it
was held accountable for the assassination.