RI CONCERNED OVER VIOLENCE IN SYRIA, CALLS FOR PEACEFUL SOLUTION by Fardah

    Jakarta, Feb 13, 2012 (ANTARA) - The anti-government protests in Syria  and the harsh responses by President Bashar Al-Assad's regime has reportedly killed over 6,000 people since March 2011.

    Last Saturday (Feb 11), AFP reported that Syrian armored vehicles moved against protest flashpoints and a general was gunned down in Damascus as the bloodshed showed no signs of abating and  even spilled over into Lebanon.

    As many civilians have become victims, the United Nations and a number of countries including Indonesia, urged the cessation of the violence in Syria and called for a peaceful solution through democratic transition.

    Following the failure of the United Nations to issue a resolution on Syria, Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Marty M Natalegawa called for a political process in Syria.

    "Indonesia has so far emphasized the need to end the violence and to conduct a political process to respect the Syrian people's aspirations,"  Marty said  when meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in New York on Friday, Feb 10.

    The most important thing was that actions harming civilians  must be avoided, and a political process to find a peaceful solution must be promoted, the foreign ministry said in a press statement last Saturday.

        The Indonesian and Turkish foreign affairs ministers talked about the possibility of organizing an international conference on Syria and stressed the significance of the roles to be played by both nations, as democratic and Muslim-majority states, in responding to the developments in Syria.

         Marty also discussed  the latest developments in Syria in a meeting with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at UN Headquarters in New York on February 6, 2012.

         A number of Indonesian people have  also expressed concern over the political turbulence in the Middle Easten country.

         Recently, a crowd of about 700 people staged a rally outside the Foreign Affairs Ministry to demand that Indonesia play a prominent  role in finding a solution to the conflict in Syria, as part of its active and independent policy.

         "Indonesia is a big country which in the past was able to set up the non-aligned movement and, therefore, it should not remain silent while the Syrian government is killing its own people," Nova Abuzar, the rally's coordinator, said.

         The demonstration was held after Friday prayers by four student and civil society organizations, including the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front, the Campus Propagation Institute of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi, the Muslim Community Unity Association and the Islamic Youth Network.

         He said,  as a country adhering to an active and independent policy, Indonesia should  follow a course that emphasized solidarity among the developing countries, supported independence struggles including that in Syria and rejected oppression in any form.

           "Based on its active and independent policy principles, the Indonesian government should not remain silent about the cruel violence in Syria, the more so because Indonesia is a country with the largest Muslim population in the world,"  Nova said.

            The demonstration  also called on all elements of the Muslim community in Indonesia as well as all people with humanitarian sense to support the pro-democracy and freedom movement in Syria.

             "Syria is a Muslim country and therefore we love its people as our own brothers and sisters,"  Nova said.

            The United Nations Security Council has not been able to intervene in the Syrian conflict as a resolution  to do so early this month was vetoed by  Russia and China.     
      Concerning the veto by Russia and China, the chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives' (DPR) Commission I, Mahfudz Siddiq, reminded the government that Indonesia must remain neutral.

          "Being neutral means seeking a compromise so that the difference between  Russia and China  on the one hand and the rest of UN Security Council members on the other will not lead the problem in Syria to be neglected by the international community," he told ANTARA last week.

         "Without having to take sides Indonesia must be able to remain active in settling the Syrian problem. The government must strengthen its diplomacy with the Arab League so that the organization could further press President Bashar Al-Assad to resign," he said.

        Mahfudz welcomed the government's decision to withdraw the Indonesian ambassador to Syria on December 2011 and considered it as a  firm and necessary action.

          "We in the DPR welcome the action to show that Indonesia cares for the Syrian people," he said.

            President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last December 2011 instructed the foreign minister to recall the Indonesian ambassador to Syria for communication and consultation on the safety of Indonesian nationals in the conflict-torn country.

            "Based on the president`s instruction, we have asked our ambassador in Damascus to return to Jakarta," Minister Marty said at the presidential complex late last year.

              A similar instruction was also issued several months ago, he said. "It reflects our concern about what is happening in Syria," he said.       
       Marty had earlier called on Indonesians living in Syria to return home, citing the danger they faced by staying there.

             The Indonesian embassy in Syria has been communicating with Indonesian nationals there and continued monitoring the safety of its citizens.

           According to the Syrian Immigration Office, there are about 80,000 Indonesians in Syria. But the Indonesian embassy's data show that 12,572 Indonesians are still in Syria. They mostly consist of students and domestic workers in Damascus and areas like Homs.

         Law maker Mahfudz Siddiq in Jakarta, Monday, suggested that the government start evacuating them and move them to Syria's neighboring countries temporarily.

        "The foreign ministry must consider effective measures to save more than 12,500 Indonesians staying in that country, by immediately evacuating them," he said.

         During 2011,  Indonesia was busy evacuating thousands of its citizens from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen - Arab countries that have experienced popular uprisings known as "Arab Spring" or "Arab Awakening". ***1***
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