RI denounces flag burning

RI denounces flag burning

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced
Monday's anti-Indonesian government protest in Melbourne during
which the nation's red and white flag was set on fire.

"That's too much," Irawan Abidin, the ministry's director of
information, told Antara news agency yesterday.

"This is another attempt by certain anti-Indonesia groups to
attract international attention," stated Irawan, saying that it
was part of a "publicity seeking syndrome" to keep the East Timor
issue alive.

Press reports received here said that the demonstration in
Melbourne was held to oppose Indonesia's participation in a big
international military exercise, codenamed Kangaroo 1995, which
commenced in Australia yesterday.

The reports said that there were also demonstrations opposing
Indonesia's participation at the Canungra military base in
Brisbane, the Larrakeyah base in Darwin and in Sydney.

Irawan stressed that the joint military exercise was crucial
for the maintenance of peace and stability in the region and that
the flag burning incident could harm bilateral ties.

"There isn't a worse threat to regional security than the
breakdown of international communication," he said.

Members of the House of Representatives yesterday condemned
the flag-burning incident and called on the Australian government
to take firm steps to prevent such occurrences in the future if
Canberra intends to maintain its good relations with Indonesia.

"If they apologize once, we will forgive them. But we won't
forgive them a second time," House's deputy speaker Ismail Hasan
Metareum was quoted as saying by Antara.

Moestahid Astari of the Golkar faction urged the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs to send a strong protest note to Canberra and
summon the Australian ambassador in Indonesia to give a formal
explanation about the incident. (emb)