RI must pressure U.S. to publish road map on Palestine

RI must pressure U.S. to publish road map on Palestine

The following is an excerpt of an interview about the situation
in Iraq, its global implications and its effect on Indonesia,
with former foreign minister and President Megawati
Soekarnoputri's adviser on foreign affairs, Ali Alatas, by The
Jakarta Post's Kornelius Purba :

Question : As war in Iraq can no longer be stopped, what still
can be done by the UN with regard to the issue?

Answer : We must continue to try and get the UN Security
Council (UNSC), as well as the General Assembly to do something
against this kind of action. But we should also realize that in
the UNSC there is the veto. So, for example, after the end of
discussion currently taking place in UNSC at the demand of the
League of Arab states as well as of NAM, they have agreed to have
an emergency session. But if a resolution is put forward at the
end of the debate, asking, for example, to stop the war, to
question the legality of the U.S. actions, there is always the
possibility that it could be vetoed by the U.S., so that no
concrete measure could be taken.

If that were the case, we would go to the General Assembly
under the unity of a peace resolution, and ask for a special
session of the General Assembly, where there are no vetoes, and
where each country has only one vote. There, whatever we propose
in the resolution would most likely be supported by an
overwhelming majority, but the negative side of a decision or
resolution by the General Assembly is that it is not enforceable
-- it is only a recommendation.

It is a form of moral pressure, true, but it cannot be
enforced like an SC resolution. An SC resolution must be
enforced; once the SC takes a resolution, the whole membership of
the UN has to follow and implement it. So these are the things
that we face in the coming days.

What can the government do to help the Iraqi people?

Our government will be active in trying to organize
humanitarian aid for the people of Iraq. It is a good standpoint.
However, people should realize that it is very difficult now; how
do you get through to the Iraqi people directly, when the whole
country is now in flames?

We are trying to work through the Jordan Red Cross for
instance, to work together, but we do not know whether it can
work. Again, there is a dilemma here also. If we send our
humanitarian aid, say through do you mean Umm Qasr?, where the
British and American are, then it might be misinterpreted as
being via the Americans, as if we were sort of justifying the
invasion or U.S. aggression. That is the dilemma.

How about the reconstruction and rebuilding of Iraq?

Regarding reconstruction as well as administration: Temporary
administration is a matter for the UN, and not the U.S. The
British are thinking in that direction, but how far they are
going to go, and how far they will also be able to persuade the
U.S., we do not know. But Indonesia, I think, should continue to
say, "OK, maybe we cannot stop the war. But immediately, after
the war ends, the UN should be given a dominant role:
humanitarian aid, rehabilitation and administration."

The second thing is that we must continue to press for the
U.S. to really publish its road map on Palestine, how to solve
the Palestine problem. They promised to do so, but it should not
be an empty promise, and it should be an implementable road map.
Maybe it can be only implemented after the war, but we should
continue to press for it from now on.

How can Indonesia press for it?

Through the UN, through the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM),
through the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), through
combining with all our friends, asking them to work together in
pressing for this, because we believe, if indeed the U.S. road
map is released and the U.S. is sincere and wanting to solve the
problem of Palestine, in seeing two states -- Israel and
Palestine.

Then we may not only be closer to a just solution for
Palestine. If it is published or proclaimed now, it will be able
to reduce the sense of frustration and anger throughout the
world, which lies at the source of the reaction of many people
over Iraq.

Many question why the U.S. has waged war against Iraq, while
Israelis there are doing whatever they want. And they too have
weapons of mass destruction. They even have nuclear power.

Do you believe the U.S. is serious?

All we can do is hope and continue to press because we don't
know exactly how the road map will be implemented even if it is
published. But we must continue to make sure that it is
implemented.

A precedent has been created over Iraq: Do you think what
happened in Iraq could also happen in North Korea?

This is one of the issues that now arises. Many people now
realize and agree that this attack on Iraq is not only a matter
of Iraq. It is a wider problem now, because it has set a
dangerous precedent -- the preemptive strike. It is a direct
challenge to multilateralism, a bypassing of the UN etc. And
therefore the problem is much greater than Iraq itself.

This is an attack on the system of world governance, world
order. It is a dangerous precedent, because today it is Iraq. If
the doctrine of the preemptive strike is allowed to become
established, then it could occur in any other country after Iraq.

Any unilateral move could be carried out by other countries,
not only the U.S., against their enemies. That is why we must
look, both in the short term, at how to resolve the Iraq problem
through the UN, but also, in the long term, at the task before us
to make sure that this challenge to the international order, to
this system of world governance, is not allowed to develop
unhindered.

Do you agree that North Korea will be the next immediate
target?

Maybe, because North Korea is now another, urgent problem. But
we do not know how that will develop. We cannot predict what will
happen. But we have to watch it very carefully, because the
tension over North Korea is much closer to home for us and is in
our part of the world. If there is something wrong, the immediate
political, security and economic impacts will felt particularly
by ASEAN, by Indonesia.

Many agree that President Megawati's performance was more
convincing than it was after the Sept.11 terror attacks. Your
comment?

I think the statement by President Megawati was very good. It
was very firm, balanced, and it reflected, to a large extent, the
genuine feelings of our people. Yet, at the same time, the
government has also urged our people to remain realistic, to
remain rational. Demonstrations are fine, but don't let them
become destructive, or even anarchic.

Our government has also given a guarantee that foreigners will
not be in danger. We need to guarantee that because people would
leave otherwise, and that would be a disaster for the economy and
the political situation. We should also understand the feeling of
common people who want to volunteer to fight in Iraq, who want
diplomatic relations to be cut with Indonesia.

We understand the feeling, but our people should be made to
understand that we have to remain cool and rational at all times.

As adviser to the President, What will be the direction of our
foreign policy after the Iraq war?

First, let me say I am adviser to the President only on
certain issues. Anyway, my personal view is that we must, in the
short term, try to make sure that the war is either stopped or
ended with the least possible damage to the Iraqi people and the
country.

We must make sure that, no matter what happens, Iraqi
integrity and sovereignty are respected. We will continue to
protest the war, but we must be realistic: We will not be able to
stop the war until its objectives are met. But that does not mean
that we cannot try. Apart from that we must look forward to the
medium and longer term, to ensure that Palestine will be the next
issue to be resolved.