National

Defense Minister: No Need to Be Angry
Wednesday, 03 August, 2005 | 10:06 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Indonesian defense minister Juwono Sudarsono has said that the matter of Papua, which was questioned up by two members of the US House of Representatives, was only a spontaneous outburst that would have no effect whatever on the relationship between the Indonesian and US governments.

“This was only one outburst from two people,” said Sudarsono after opening the Third Security Dialogue between Indonesia and the USA on Tuesday (02/08) in Jakarta.

As reported earlier, the US House of Representatives International Relation Committee supports the freedom of Papua.

This support was included in a draft bill on June 9.
According to Sudarsono, the US government has stated its support for the unity and integration of Indonesian Republic and would not support any efforts for separation or the freedom of Papua.

When asked about the attitude of the Defense Ministry about the strong criticisms of two US House of Representatives (DPR) members, who questioned the legal status of Papua as part of the Republic of Indonesian, the Defense Minister said,” We’re the same as the government. We do not need to be angry. This is a normal occurrence in Congress.

This matter, said Sudarsono, arose because some Americans from Samoa felt that Papuans have been treated improperly.

“We told them that we’re carrying out democracy and centralization efforts in Papua so that the situation will improve and justice will prevail,” he said.
Sudarsono also said that matters regarding Papua always appeared every August because protesters objected to the New York agreement in August 1962 when the USA, the Netherlands and Indonesia agreed to return West Irian to Indonesia. (Sunariah-Tempo News Room)