Special team preparing evacuation from Mideast

Special team preparing evacuation from Mideast

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A special team set up to deal with the effects of a potential
crisis in Iraq embarked on a two-week visit to eight countries in
the Middle East on Thursday to make arrangements in the event of
a war.

Team leader Adm. (ret) Widodo Adisucipto said that Indonesia
would likely evacuate its citizens in dangerous areas to Syria,
Qatar and Saudi Arabia which were considered to be relatively
safe.

"At first, we will meet officials from eight Middle Eastern
countries to convey a message from President Megawati
Soekarnoputri to ask for their help should it be deemed necessary
to evacuate.

"We will also meet all the Indonesian citizens living there to
explain the whole process of evacuation if the situation worsens
in Iraq," said Widodo, the former chief of the Indonesian
Military (TNI).

The Eight countries are Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Kuwait,
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

According to Widodo, some 50,000 Indonesians are living in the
region and most of them work as domestic servants in the informal
sector.

Some one hundred Indonesians studying in Iraq have already
flown home due to the escalating tension between the United
States and Iraq over the issue of weapons of mass destruction.

"Such preparations should not be perceived as if we
(Indonesian government) see a war in Iraq as inevitable ... our
stance is still clear, to push for a peaceful solution," Widodo
said.

Indonesian religious leaders had earlier expressed their
concern over the heightened tension between Washington and
Baghdad, following allegations that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein
is developing weapons of mass destruction as well as aiding and
abetting the al-Qaeda terrorist network which claimed
responsibility for the Sept. 11 attacks.

The United States' tough stance on Iraq has met opposition
from three of its traditional European allies, Belgium, France
and Germany, as well as most Muslim countries, including
Indonesia. In addition to antiwar demonstrations held by tens of
thousands of Muslims here, religious groups and independent
figures have sent a peace mission to Europe and Australia to seek
support for their mission to prevent war in Iraq.