Ministry yet to confirm on alleged Indonesian death in Egypt

The Foreign Ministry is yet to confirm the alleged death of an Indonesian in Egypt, where riots and rallies demanding President Hosni Mobarak step down from his post have produced dozens of casualties over the last week.

“We have conducted tracing and verification measures, but we have yet to find any certainty on the matter,” Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Thursday in Jakarta.

Rumors have arisen that an Indonesian named Imanda Amalia, who is said to be working for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), was killed amid the clashes in Cairo. The news was first posted on a Facebook page belonging to the Science of Universe, known as an intellectual discussion forum on various matters.

However, later speculations circulated that Imanda was an Australian citizen of Indonesian background.

An entry on the forum's Facebook wall apologized for previously posting the news.

“We apologize greatly to the public and the Indonesian people especially on the publishing of yet to be verified news on Imanda Amalia – Team Science of Universe” the entry said.

Marty said that the ministry acquired information from the Cairo UNRWA chief and the United Nations office in Jakarta. Both sources said that there were no staff members named Imanda Amalia in Cairo.

“However, we are yet to confirm this information with other offices in countries near Egypt,” he said.

Marty added that the ministry tried to verify the news with the Australian Embassy in Jakarta but was yet to receive a response.