RI urged to turn to Middle East

Wed, 03/26/2008 12:36 PM

YOGYAKARTA: In order to catch up on technological and economic developments, Indonesia should strengthen ties with the Middle East, international relations expert and former People's Consultative Assembly speaker Amien Rais said Tuesday.

"This doesn't mean we're challenging Washington," Amien said at Gadjah Mada University in a seminar on the Middle East.

Amien said the most important question was why Middle Eastern businesspeople were willing to invest in Thailand or Malaysia more than in Indonesia.

He said Indonesia had bad relations with the Middle East, which resulted in 20 Middle Eastern countries abstaining during a United Nations vote on Timor Leste. This move invited the UN-backed referendum leading to the province's independence in 1999.

"The reason that happened is because they doubt our pro-Palestinian stance. We claimed to support the Palestinian cause but we were the last Asian country to open a Palestine representative office in Jakarta," Amien said. -- JP

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