Soeharto warns of new dangers

Soeharto warns of new dangers

By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat

BANDUNG (JP): President Soeharto and United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali warned yesterday of the mutation of old threats into new dangers confronting the world.

"Apartheid is dead, but other, more insidious forms of racism are still prevalent," Soeharto said at the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Asia-Africa Conference here.

"Great numbers of people are being killed or maimed because disputes are not being settled through negotiations or other peaceful means," he said, addressing ministers and senior officials from 97 of 112 members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

Boutros-Ghali in his address drew the gathering's attention to possible threats of a world in limbo because the bipolar, Cold War structure of international relations had disappeared, while elements of a new structure were not yet in place.

"Just as the gestation of the old system took place in the decade following the World War II, a new international system in the aftermath of the Cold War is now in the making," he said.

Relieved from the bipolar struggle, the world is now confronted with grave problems of a different nature. "A variety of ethnic tensions, long suppressed, have come to the surface."

Soeharto expressed regret over the fact that many of the concerns addressed by the 1955 Asian-Africa Conference remained unsolved. "The peace that they envisioned has not yet been attained," he said in his address at the Merdeka Building, the historic site of the 1955 Conference.

"Teeming millions in the developing world still languish in the grip of poverty, ignorance and backwardness because of the inequities and imbalances in international economic relationships," he said.

Soeharto and Boutros-Ghali said that the strategies adopted by leaders of the 29 nations at the Asia Africa Conference, which later gave birth to NAM, were still relevant to today's problems.

Soeharto pointed out that at its 1992 summit in Jakarta, the movement clarified once and for all the course it has to take in the face of the increasingly complicated problems.

"All doubts about the relevance of the Movement in the post- Cold War era vanished," he said, adding that efforts had to be made in order to keep the movement dynamic and able to adapt to the changing times.

"Our movement must continue evolving and growing in enlightenment -- but always within the framework of the principles and ideals that the Asia Africa Conference spelled out for all time forty years ago."

The commemoration heard from NAM leaders representing Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and from the President of the 49th United Nations General Assembly, Amara Essy.

Ideals

Colombian foreign minister Rodrigo Pardo asserted the need for NAM to continue the ideals of Bandung of creating a better world.

"Our goals of justice, development and democracy still clamor for attention. We cannot allow our determination to waver," said the minister, whose country will assume the NAM leadership later this year.

Joseph Cassar of Malta, representing Europe, warned of "a world of change where the potential of promise and opportunity is at times surpassed by the threat of conflict, devastation and inequity."

Ben Mustafa of Tunisia, representing Africa, called for greater efforts to "eradicate the last spots of domination and colonization, especially in the Arab and Palestinian lands".

Despite the grandeur of the ceremony, most of the people of Bandung were not given a chance to witness the proceedings themselves.

Residents of Bandung were cut-off from the celebrations as police closed the surrounding area to all cars and pedestrians.

Those wishing to get even a glimpse of the colorful ceremonies had to be satisfied with observing from a distance of at least 200 meters.

Departing from the previously reported plan, Soeharto did not participate in the "memory walk" from the Savoy Homman Hotel to the Merdeka Building which started the day's proceedings.

Instead, Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas lead the walk with Boutros-Ghali.

Following the speeches inside the Merdeka Building, delegates were treated to a lively cultural program performed by 165 dancers.

The highlight of the afternoon's entertainment was the angklung music performance by 600 local students.

Though their rendition of the obscure Hymn Asia-Africa met with a rather stolid response, their next number, Johann Strauss' waltz Blue Danube, was received with resounding applause. The celebrations were closed with a joyous Halo-Halo Bandung.