RI slams Euro Parliament for Irian Jaya interference

RI slams Euro Parliament for Irian Jaya interference

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia has denounced the European Parliament for what it perceives as interference in the nation's domestic affairs.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas issued a letter expressing dismay with European Parliament President Klaus Hansch, who has invited the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM) to send a delegation to the assembly in Strassbourg, Austria.

Alatas said that Irian Jaya is an integral part of the country, a fact recognized by the United Nations Resolution 2504 (XXIV). By making such an offer, the European Parliament has violated Indonesia's territorial integrity, he charged.

The minister said in the letter, a copy of which was made available to The Jakarta Post Tuesday, that such an act could be construed as implicit recognition of the illegal separatist group.

The European Parliament is committing "a blatant act of interference in the internal affairs of Indonesia," he added.

"I should therefore like to register, on behalf of the Indonesian government, our vigorous protest against the interference by the President of the European Parliament in the internal affairs of the Republic of Indonesia which constitutes an affront to its sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said.

Hansch sent a letter last month to OPM leaders proposing that they send a delegation to visit and address the European Parliament on human rights, cultural identity and environmental concerns in Irian Jaya.

The separatist group is currently holding eleven hostages, including six Europeans, whom they abducted on Jan. 8.

Informed sources have confirmed that OPM leaders have received Hansch's letter. The sources revealed that the letter also suggests the possibility of asylum for the OPM members.

In his letter to Hansch dated March 6, Alatas described the European Parliament's proposal to hear the OPM delegation as "a very dangerous precedent". (mds)