Wearing peacekeeping beret, SBY pays respects to fallen soldiers

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The sixth President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), wore the distinctive beret of peacekeeping forces while paying condolences and rendering honours to three TNI soldiers who fell while carrying out a peacekeeping mission with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). At the VIP Building of Terminal 3 at Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on Saturday evening, the remains of Major Infanteri Anumerta Zulmi Aditya Iskandar, Sersan Kepala Anumerta Muhammad Nur Ichwan, and Kopral Dua Anumerta Farizal Rhomadhon were laid in state before being officially handed over by the state to their families. During the laying-in-state procession, SBY arrived around 7:00 PM WIB, after President Prabowo had finished paying his respects to the three fallen TNI soldiers. SBY was dressed in a complete black suit with the light blue beret characteristic of UN peacekeeping forces. SBY then stood right next to President Prabowo to participate in the ceremony of carrying the coffins. As the sixth President of the Republic of Indonesia, SBY, during his service as a TNI soldier from 1995 to 1996, was part of the UN peacekeeping force, carrying out a peacekeeping mission as Chief Military Observer of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Bosnia-Herzegovina. At that time, SBY led a force consisting of 650 officers from 29 countries. Subsequently, the procession of carrying the coffins began. The coffins of the three soldiers were carried one by one to the waiting aircraft on the apron of Soekarno-Hatta Airport. Two coffins were flown to Yogyakarta aboard TNI AU Hercules C-130J transport aircraft, while one coffin was flown to Bandung using a TNI AU CN-295 transport aircraft. The two coffins flown to Yogyakarta then continued their journey to the respective mourning homes: for Sersan Kepala Anumerta Muhammad Nur Ichwan in Magelang Regency, Central Java, and for Kopral Dua Anumerta Farizal Rhomadhon in Kulon Progo Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta. Meanwhile, the remains of Major Infanteri Anumerta Zulmi Aditya Iskandar will be taken to the mourning home in Cimahi City, West Java.