Jeremy Page, Shanghai – A senior Indonesian minister denied on Thursday that President Megawati Sukarnoputri had condemned US-led strikes on Afghanistan and said Jakarta had not wavered in its support for a war on terrorism.
Megawati was widely seen as expressing veiled condemnation of the strikes in a speech on Sunday, saying no government had the right to attack another country or seek to cleanse blood with blood.
But Trade and Industry Minister Rini Soewandi said media reports had distorted Megawati's comments. Moreover, US officials had not questioned the country's commitment to the anti-terror fight or threatened economic sanctions, she added.
"The US understands that the perception of the media or some of the media was not the intention of Indonesia. It was not the intention of Indonesia to relax its position on terrorism," she told Reuters in an interview.
"It has been wrongly perceived," she said of Megawati's speech at a religious ceremony that Soewandi also attended. "We never said anything against the attacks." Megawati's remarks on Sunday had cast doubts on US hopes of building united support for its coalition to fight terrorism at the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Shanghai this week.
Soewandi said Megawati had discussed terrorism with her US counterparts at APEC and they had not raised the possibility of withdrawing economic aid for Indonesia in response to the speech. "They have not questioned our position, so there is no point of reassurance because they are not concerned about it," she said.
APEC leaders are expected to issue a strong statement condemning terrorism at the weekend, although one that does not specifically mention the US military strikes against Afghanistan.
In return for Megawati's support for the war on terrorism, the United States vowed financial assistance for a country still trying to rebuild an economy shattered by the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. Washington also lifted an embargo on sales of non-lethal military items.
Warning against violence
Soewandi said Megawati's speech had been a warning against violence. "She reminded all of us Muslims that we as Muslims do not support violence, do not allow violence in our lives. We are committed to peace. Islam is a non-violent religion, Islam cannot accept violence of any kind." However, Megawati's apparent shift from her previous stance backing limited strikes on Afghanistan reflected hardening anti-US views among many in the world's most populous Muslim nation, analysts said.
The strikes on Afghanistan have put her in an awkward position less than three months after taking over volatile Indonesia, with moderate Muslims at home opposing the raids but a critical ally and investment partner seeking her support.
Soewandi said Indonesia's commitment to fight terrorism was based on its own experience. Indonesia has been racked by separatist, ethnic and religious violence in recent years. "We will continue to fight terrorism because Indonesia has had the experience of that in the past few years," she said.
She stressed the importance of combating terrorism through economic means by promoting free trade and stimulating economic growth to provide jobs for the disaffected.