Indonesian Citizens in Iraq to be Evacuated in Third Week of January

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The Indonesian government is to evacuate its citizens in Iraq on the third week of this January, according to the said Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirajuda. Most of the Indonesian Embassy staff, particularly non-essential staff, and their families will be evacuated in the third week of January, the minister told reporters at his office in Jakarta on Wednesday (8/1). The Indonesian government is yet to declare whether or not it supports the US attack against Iraq. According to Wirajuda, this is because Indonesian government believes that all international problems and matters to do with peace should be settled through United Nations Security Council (UNSC) decisions. Regarding his meeting with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to be held on Thursday (9/1), Wirajuda said he planned to discuss this Iraq matter with Straw as the UK supports the attack against Iraq. What kind of evidence do they have that indicate violations in Iraq? Is it because they have weapons of mass destruction? Did the mechanism of UNSC work in the weapons inspection in Iraq? were some of the questions Wirajuda said he would be asking. According to Wirajuda, he will use what he learns in the meeting as input to be processed together with the UNSC evaluation that will be made after the UN inspection team reports the results of their inspection on Iraq on January 27. Wirajuda stated that Indonesia would not give its support for any war, particularly if it is one-sided. So, I should emphasize this, any decision on Iraq must obtained through the UNSC and not carried out unilaterally, he said. (D.A Candraningrum Tempo News Room)