From infoPAPUA.org
RI in dilemma over Kosovo status
By Jakarta Post
Feb 19, 2008, 15:57
Jakarta Post
19 February 2008
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp?fileid=20080218221621&irec=5
RI in dilemma over Kosovo status
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia has delayed its decision on whether to recognize or reject Kosovo's independence until it can settle differences at home and be sure of the international voice.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Monday Indonesia was closely following developments in Kosovo and monitoring views at the national level and at the United Nations before issuing the right decision on Kosovo.
"In time we will convey our best position for Kosovo. If Kosovo's independence is the best for Kosovo and other nations in the world then we will be in the position to support it.
"In accordance with our traditions, we will consult our parliament to be able to have a position on certain world issues," Yudhoyono told reporters during a joint press conference with visiting Finnish President Tarja Halonen at the State Palace.
Indonesia's indecisiveness has been apparently caused by dissenting opinions among domestic stakeholders, with the country's largest party, Golkar, and several Islamic-related parties, notably the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Mandate Party (PAN)supporting Kosovo's independence while the second largest party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and several minor parties rejecting it.
Golkar's senior lawmaker Theo Sambuaga urged the government to quickly recognize and support Kosovo's independence, underlining the fact that Indonesia is a pro-independence nation and all Kosovo people support the declaration.
The PKS said Indonesia's recognition of Kosovo's independence should be made through the UN.
"Indonesia should push for international recognition through the UN General Assembly to put more weight on the recognition," Mutammimul Ula of the PKS told The Jakarta Post.
But fear of flourishing separatist movements, including Papua and Aceh, as a result of Indonesia's recognition of Kosovo's independence haunt the nationalist-oriented PDI-P.
"We should be very careful. Territorial integrity isguaranteed by the UN Charter and our Constitution. Kosovo's independence will set a bad precedent that a territory can just secede even without the UN's consent," senior lawmaker Sidharto Danubroto of PDI-P told the ^YPost^Y.(abd/dsy/**)
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Jakarta Post
19 February 2008
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp?fileid=20080218113450&irec=17
Indonesia says it does not recognize Kosovo's independence
JAKARTA (AP): Indonesia said Monday it does not recognize Kosovo's declaration of independence, a move that reflects Jakarta's concern that the pronouncement could energize its own separatist movements.
Indonesia, a sprawling country of some 18,000 islands, saw East Timor break away in 1999 and is battling widespread secessionist sentiment in the Papua region and a smaller nonviolent movement in the Maluku islands.
The government said in a statement it regretted Kosovo's unilateral declaration and hoped it would not bring about fresh tension and conflict in the Balkan region. It said UN-backed principles of upholding the territorial integrity of developing nations must be supported.
"The government of Indonesia will follow closely developments in Kosovo, but it is not yet in a position to recognize this unilateral declaration of independence," the statement said.
Russia and Serbia have declared Sunday's declaration by the Kosovo parliament illegal and said it could spur independence movements in the region and the world. But most of the 27 nations in the European Union are expected to quickly endorse the pronouncement.
Indonesia, which is home to hundreds of ethic groups, cultures and languages, lost East Timor after a UN-organized independence ballot that was bitterly opposed by the country's powerful military.
It is currently battling a ragtag separatist army in eastern Papua region, a mostly Christian part of the overwhelmingly Muslim country that is rich in oil, gas and timber.
Separatists there claim a UN-organized vote in 1969 that saw 1,000 hand-picked tribal elders endorse Jakarta rule was a sham.
Government negotiators reached a peace deal with rebels in Aceh province in 2005 ending nearly 30 years of fighting in the oil and gas-rich province on the north of Sumatra island. The deal came after the destruction wrought by the Asian tsunami a year earlier provided an opportunity for both sides to begin talking. (****)
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Richard Samuelson
Free West Papua Campaign, Oxford, UK.
www.freewestpapua.org
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