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REUTERS, Monday October 15, 2001 1:47 AM
Megawati condemns U.S.-led strikes on Afghanistan
By Muklis Ali
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's president on Sunday expressed veiled but strong condemnation of U.S.-led air strikes on Afghanistan, saying no government had the right to attack another country or seek to cleanse blood with blood.
Abandoning Jakarta's stance that the strikes should only be limited and apparently bowing to local Muslim pressure, Megawati Sukarnoputri made the comments at a religious ceremony in what amounts to a diplomatic blow for U.S. President George W. Bush.
She did not mention the United States or Afghanistan by name during her nationally televised speech from a Jakarta mosque on Sunday night, but the message from the leader of the world's most populous Muslim nation was clear.
"Whoever commits terror must be punished. However, the search for and the bringing to justice of perpetrators of terror or those parties who harbour them must be in accordance with law that is generally acceptable," Megawati said.
"It is unacceptable that someone, a group or even a government -- reasoning that they are searching for perpetrators -- attack a people or another country for whatever reason.
"Blood cannot be cleansed with blood," added Megawati, who until now has said little about the U.S.-led strikes on Afghanistan that began a week ago.
Washington launched the strikes after accusing Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden of masterminding attacks on the United States last month that killed nearly 5,400 people. Bin Laden is being sheltered by the ruling Taliban in Islamic Afghanistan.
The strikes have thrust Megawati into an awkward position less than three months after she took over volatile Indonesia, with moderate Muslims at home opposing the raids but a critical ally and investment partner seeking Indonesia's support.
Megawati backed the U.S. war on terrorism at a meeting with Bush not long after the attacks on the United States.
In return for her support, Washington vowed financial assistance for a country still trying to rebuild an economy shattered by the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, and lifted an embargo on sales of non-lethal military items.
Speaking before a crowd that included Vice President and leading Muslim politician Hamzah Haz and senior cabinet members, Megawati kept repeating her distaste for the U.S.-led action.
"We cannot imagine that other groups or nations can make their own measurements and rules to decide who is right or wrong and then attack other parties," Megawati said, wearing a purple Muslim outfit and matching headscarf.
On Saturday Haz called for an end to the strikes, saying the U.S. had not proved bin Laden was involved in the attacks.
NO CRITICISM OF PROTESTS
Megawati did not refer to the radical Muslim groups that have staged small but rowdy anti-American demonstrations in front of the now heavily-guarded U.S. embassy in Jakarta.
These groups have also threatened to drive Americans and Britons out of Indonesia and urged a boycott of U.S. products.
Many in the mainly moderate Muslim populace, while opposed to the U.S. air strikes, say the radical groups are only hurting Indonesians by scaring off investors and tourists.
Earlier on Sunday, police said 65 anti-American protesters had been arrested in Jakarta and would be charged with weapons offences, the first clear action against radical Muslims.
"We will process them according to the law even though we are facing the risk of protests. There is no plan to release them," Jakarta police spokesman Anton Bahrul Alam said.
Alam told reporters police had found dozens of knives, arrows, hammers and other sharp weapons when they searched about 500 anti-American protesters after they arrived in Jakarta by train from the central Java city of Solo overnight.
He said the maximum jail term for the offences was 12 years.
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