Jakarta – Indonesia's Vice President Hamzah Haz has rejected US President George W.Bush's request to close down the Iraqi embassy in Jakarta.

"The [Indonesian] government cannot possibly close the Iraqi embassy," he said commenting on the US president's request to other countries in the world to close down Iraqi embassies.

Speaking to reporters after performing Friday prayers at Al Hidayah Mosque in the West Java town of Bekasi, he said the United States could not intervene in other countries' internal affairs.

Opening a foreign embassy in its capital is the right of every country, Hamzah said. Indonesia consistently sticks to and implements its free and independent stance in its foreign policy, the vice president said. Indonesia could therefore not be steered or pressured by other countries, he said. "We determine what we want to do," he said.

The Indonesian government's recent statement that it deeply deplored President Bush's war on Iraq showed Indonesia's firm stand, he noted. In more concrete terms, Indonesia had urged the United Nations to hold an extraordinary meeting for talks about the possibility of stopping the US-led military action against Iraq soon.

Asked about public calls for a temporary freeze of Indonesia's diplomatic ties with the United States, Hamzah diplomatically said "everything must be decided through certain procedures and based on certain considerations." "We are a member of the United Nations. So, let's see first how things develop," he said.