`RI should support Iraqis to rebuild their country'

`RI should support Iraqis to rebuild their country'

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia should support the Iraqi people to rebuild their
country, following news reports over the fall of Baghdad to U.S.-
led coalition forces and the absence of a functioning government
in the country, analysts said on Friday.

Hikmahanto Juwana, professor of international law at the
School of Law at the University of Indonesia, said Indonesia's
stance in opposing the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq should not bar
it from participating in the postwar reconstruction of Iraq.

"Our stance against the unilateral attack by the U.S.-led
coalition on Iraq and our support for the Iraqis in rebuilding
their country after war are two different things," he said.

To obtain legal and moral justification, Hikmahanto suggested
that the government seek a greater role for the United Nations
(UN) in establishing an interim administration in Iraq and in
pursuing Iraq reconstruction.

Riza Sihbudi, an analyst from the Indonesian Institute of
Sciences (LIPI), concurred and said the UN, and not the coalition
forces, must either facilitate or establish an interim government
in Iraq to "prevent imperialistic acts".

"The interim administration must be established soon to
maintain law and order as well as to take on administrative tasks
to prepare elections for the creation of a legitimate
government," he said.

If the UN lets the coalition forces establish an interim
government in Iraq, Riza warned, the Iraqi people may not support
it.

"If it is opposed, the reconstruction in Iraq would not run
smoothly and it would only create prolonged suffering among the
Iraqi people," he said.

He noted that the Iraqi people should not be burdened with an
interim government they oppose, as they had suffered under the
repressive regime of President Saddam Hussein for 25 years and
from the war.

Hikmahanto added that the Indonesian government must be active
in the UN and cooperate with other countries, such as those from
the Non-Aligned Movement, to involve Iraqis in the reconstruction
process and prevent the coalition forces from dominating the
management of Iraq after the war.

"It's not an easy task. I wonder if the Iraqi people would
support the coalition in forming an administration that will bow
to coalition interests," Hikmahanto said.

He warned that this could lead to deeper internal conflicts in
Iraq.

Indonesia, which staunchly opposes the U.S.-led war on Iraq,
has yet to take a political stance over the fall of Baghdad.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda has said that the
government would continue to recognize Saddam Hussein as the
legitimate Iraqi president until the situation in Iraq became
clearer.

Both Hikmahanto and Riza, however, said that Indonesia should
recognize Iraq as a sovereign state, instead of as an entity
defined by its regime or administration.