RI requests UN meeting on postwar Iraq

RI requests UN meeting on postwar Iraq

Berni K. Moestafa and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta

Following the fall of Baghdad to coalition forces, Indonesia
has made a request to the United Nations through the Non-Aligned
Movement (NAM) to convene a General Assembly meeting as soon as
possible to discuss postwar Iraq.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on Sunday
that the UN involvement in postwar Iraq was needed both for its
reconstruction and the establishment of a legitimate interim
government in Iraq.

"The General Assembly meeting should address the postwar
situation. We, through NAM, have requested the meeting," Hassan
said on Sunday.

Indonesia earlier took the request through NAM to convene a UN
Security Council emergency meeting at the beginning of the war.
Although the meeting failed to produce anything concrete to stop
the war, Indonesia made it clear to the world that its position
was against the war.

Hassan said on Sunday that Indonesia's involvement in postwar
Iraq would be subject to the role of the UN there.

"Our participation depends on the UN participation there and
we have called for the General Assembly meeting through NAM to
discuss the postwar situation in Iraq," Hassan added.

The minister also said that the UN should once again send its
weapons inspection team to Iraq to prove whether the U.S.
accusation that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction was true.

The U.S. has promised a "vital role" for the UN, but to the
dismay of the European antiwar camp, senior U.S. officials had
indicated that this would be confined to humanitarian aid and on
non-political issues.

Meanwhile, local experts said that Indonesia must push for a
role in reconstructing postwar Iraq even if only to help
counterbalance America's presence.

"Indonesia must be more proactive in getting itself involved
in the reconstruction efforts under the UN," said Riza Sihbudi, a
Middle East expert from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences
(LIPI).

Billions of dollars worth of contracts are soon up for grabs
in rebuilding Iraq after 12 years of economic sanctions and three
weeks of relentless bombing during the war. Many parts of the
oil-rich country need major reconstruction work.

Leading antiwar governments France, Germany and Russia had no
qualms in demanding a stake as soon as Saddam Hussein's regime
appeared to have ended.

Indonesia, meanwhile, hesitated, wary about continued fighting
in some parts of Iraq and the absence of any UN role after the
war.

The U.S. will look to the institutions that it has great
influence in, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
(IMF), to outline policies that would, among other things, govern
Iraq's vast oil resources.

Smith Alhadar of the Indonesian Society for Middle East
Studies (ISMES) said if the U.S. continued to insist on
establishing a U.S.-led military government that, albeit
temporary, it would only prolong criticism of an illegal
occupation.

"A dominant American role would only lead to resistance among
the Iraqis," said Smith on Saturday. "The more that countries
participate the better."

Calls for Indonesia to step in have also come from the U.S.
itself, when U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce called
on Indonesia last week to participate in rebuilding Iraq,
describing this country's role as "very important".