RI urges Israel, Palestine to implement peace `roadmap'
RI urges Israel, Palestine to implement peace `roadmap'
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian government urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders
to move forward and implement an international "road map" for
peace in the Middle East, which envisages the creation of a
Palestinian state by 2005.
"We welcome the announcement of the road map for Palestine and
Israel, but perhaps it is overdue," Ministry of Foreign Affairs
spokesman Marty A Natalegawa told the Jakarta Post over the
weekend.
He said that the Indonesian government welcomed the commitment
of the Palestinian government to implement the plan.
He then called on the Israeli government to implement the road
map without setting any conditions.
If the plan is implemented fully and a Palestinian state is
born in 2005, it would improve the image of the United States and
its allies in the eyes of the Muslim world, he said.
"It would show that the U.S. and its allies do not apply
different standards for problems that have become concerns for
Muslim countries," he said.
The international road map, drawn up by the diplomatic quartet
of the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia,
aims to create a Palestinian state by the end of 2005.
The road map calls for Israel immediately to freeze all
settlement growth and for the Palestinians to cease all attacks
and to end all incitements to violence.
Diplomats handed a copy of the road map to Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas
last week.
However, Middle East expert Riza Sihbudi of the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences said the road map had weaknesses that left
the future of Palestine unclear.
"It is still unclear what the form of the Palestinian state
will be, and there are some indications that Palestinians will
not get full independence," he said.
Riza also said he thought the Israeli government might try to
delay the creation of a Palestinian state by setting conditions
for the implementation of the road map.
"It is all right if the Israeli government demands that
Palestinians end the violence, but it will be too much if Israel
requires the dissolution of the radical group Hamas there," he
said.
Israeli Prime Minister Sharon has fueled Palestinian
suspicions by saying militants must be disarmed and jailed before
he begins scrapping settlement outposts, though both of these
steps are part of the plan.
The premier has also made clear that he will accept only a
truncated Palestinian state with limited sovereignty, far less
than what Palestinians are demanding.
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian government urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders
to move forward and implement an international "road map" for
peace in the Middle East, which envisages the creation of a
Palestinian state by 2005.
"We welcome the announcement of the road map for Palestine and
Israel, but perhaps it is overdue," Ministry of Foreign Affairs
spokesman Marty A Natalegawa told the Jakarta Post over the
weekend.
He said that the Indonesian government welcomed the commitment
of the Palestinian government to implement the plan.
He then called on the Israeli government to implement the road
map without setting any conditions.
If the plan is implemented fully and a Palestinian state is
born in 2005, it would improve the image of the United States and
its allies in the eyes of the Muslim world, he said.
"It would show that the U.S. and its allies do not apply
different standards for problems that have become concerns for
Muslim countries," he said.
The international road map, drawn up by the diplomatic quartet
of the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia,
aims to create a Palestinian state by the end of 2005.
The road map calls for Israel immediately to freeze all
settlement growth and for the Palestinians to cease all attacks
and to end all incitements to violence.
Diplomats handed a copy of the road map to Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas
last week.
However, Middle East expert Riza Sihbudi of the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences said the road map had weaknesses that left
the future of Palestine unclear.
"It is still unclear what the form of the Palestinian state
will be, and there are some indications that Palestinians will
not get full independence," he said.
Riza also said he thought the Israeli government might try to
delay the creation of a Palestinian state by setting conditions
for the implementation of the road map.
"It is all right if the Israeli government demands that
Palestinians end the violence, but it will be too much if Israel
requires the dissolution of the radical group Hamas there," he
said.
Israeli Prime Minister Sharon has fueled Palestinian
suspicions by saying militants must be disarmed and jailed before
he begins scrapping settlement outposts, though both of these
steps are part of the plan.
The premier has also made clear that he will accept only a
truncated Palestinian state with limited sovereignty, far less
than what Palestinians are demanding.