Thai, Brunei leaders concerned by RI riots

BANGKOK (Agencies): The leaders of Thailand and Brunei have expressed concern over the upheaval in fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member Indonesia and hope the unrest ends soon.

But the sultan of Brunei and Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai did not propose any solutions during a meeting Saturday on how embattled Indonesian President Soeharto should deal with mounting riots and protests against his 32-year rule.

Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan, in accounts reported yesterday in Thai newspapers, said the leaders hoped the unrest, which claimed at least 500 lives, would not escalate and affect the region.

Indonesia, with a population of 202 million, is by far the largest member of the nine-member ASEAN. Governments in the economic bloc almost never adversely comment on each other's internal affairs.

Other members of the grouping are Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

Meanwhile in Singapore, state television quoted ministers expressing dismay Saturday at the grave situation in Indonesia.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Tony Tan said the Singapore government hoped "law and order will be quickly restored" in its giant southern neighbor.

State television quoted George Yeo, Minister of Information and the Arts, telling local reporters during a visit to Myanmar of Singapore's pain at the events in Indonesia.

"It is very sad that a grave situation has developed," Yeo said. "All those years of efforts by (President) Soeharto in nation building and in building up the economy have come to this terrible stage."

"We are a very close neighbor, in many ways their closest neighbor and we are very pained to see the way things have developed. We try to be as helpful as we can under the circumstances and watch and pray at the same time."

But Tan said it was up to Indonesia to decide its own fate.

"There have been many calls for political reform and the Indonesian government will have to take this into account. But what is to be done is a matter for the Indonesian government and the Indonesian people to decide," Tan said.

The comments coincided with a mass exodus from Indonesia of Singaporeans and other foreigners, who have been fleeing by air and sea to escape the civil unrest that has torn through Indonesian cities in recent days.

Pope

In Vatican, Pope John Paul said yesterday he was deeply worried about Indonesia's violent riots and called for dialog and "mutual respect" of people and laws in the nation.

"We are watching what is happening in Indonesia with deep worry. The violence of these last days has caused the death of many people along with vast destruction, taking the country down a dangerous path," the pope said during his regular weekly address.

"At this moment, all our human and Christian solidarity goes to that noble nation," said the pontiff, who was speaking to pilgrims in St. Peter's Square.

"We pray that, with dialog and mutual respect for people and laws, the common good of all the Indonesian people can be assured," he said.

Meanwhile in Canberra, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said yesterday that despite the troubling situation in Indonesia, it was not for neighbors such as Australia to intervene.

"It very much remains to be seen whether he's in control, but President Soeharto is an old campaigner," Downer said in a TV interview, adding that Australia should not try to influence the political situation in Indonesia.

"A foreign country telling a neighbor how to structure their political processes, is going to get a fairly adverse reaction and not have a lot of influence. You have to be careful how you put these things," Downer said.

Downer said it was a "bold person" who predicted that the worst of the violence in Indonesia was over.

"I think it's better to be cautious and say the situation is still extremely tense," he said.

Three hundred Australians -- most of them women and children -- flew into Sydney from Jakarta yesterday aboard the first of three emergency flights chartered by the Australian government for evacuations.

Downer said the government was keeping its options open on future charter flights, and would arrange military flights for civilians if "dire circumstances" arose.