RI aims for more active role in resolving Afghanistan conflict

Erwida Maulia ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 10/28/2009 8:34 PM  |  World

Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said here Wednesday that Indonesia wanted to play a more active role in resolving the conflict in Afghanistan.

Marty told journalists after a meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Presidential Office that Indonesia was "committed to promoting peace and prosperity" in the war-plagued South Asian country.

"We are currently identifying the problems... We initially want to listen to what people in Afghanistan actually expect from us so that the support we would provide them would be what they need," Marty said in a press conference after the meeting, which was also attended by the Indonesian Ambassador to Afghanistan Erman Hidayat and Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto.

Yudhoyono specially summoned Erman, based in Kabul, to Jakarta to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

The President has asked the latter to identify the needs of the Afghan people, and has ordered an increase in the administrative and logistical capacity of the Indonesian Embassy in Kabul, Marty said.

The new foreign affairs minister, however, added that sending a peacekeeping mission to Afghanistan would not presently be an option, because multinational troops currently installed in the country are not operating under the mandate of the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission.

“The multinational troops in Afghanistan, namely the ISAF [International Stabilization Force] and the US troops, are operating with authorization from the UN’s Security Council.

“As long as that remains so, the prospect of Indonesia’s involvement will remain closed. Indonesia has hitherto only participated in multinational forces under the UN’s peacekeeping force mandate,” Marty said.

He said that what Indonesia could do was to provide support for reconstruction and, with its past experiences, promote reconciliation among conflicting factions in Afghanistan.

“We know that one of key factors [to settle conflicts] in Afghanistan is to promote reconciliation among the conflicting factions.”

Marty added that Indonesia would co-ordinate the support it would provide for Afghanistan with those offered by other countries to ensure that there would be no duplication.

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