JAKARTA, 22 March 2003 — Indonesia yesterday rejected a United States call for countries to sever diplomatic relations with Saddam Hussein’s regime and said it would not ask Iraqi diplomats to leave.

“There’s no need for that,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa told a press conference, adding a third country should not tell Indonesia how to conduct its relations with foreign missions.

“That issue is something to be decided by the host country and the related country,” he said. “It is not for a third country to recommend us to take or not take action as far as foreign missions in Indonesia are concerned,” he said.

The United States on Thursday asked governments worldwide to sever ties with Saddam Hussein’s regime, shut down Iraq’s embassies and freeze its assets until new authorities were in power in Baghdad.

The Indonesian government on Thursday strongly condemned the US war against Iraq as an act of aggression that breached international law.

“Indonesia is of the opinion that the use of military action against Iraq is an act of aggression, which is against international law,” President Megawati Sukarnoputri said in Jakarta’s strongest criticism of Washington in years.

Both moderate and radical Islamic leaders in the world’s largest Muslim-populated nation also reacted angrily, calling the attack “an international crime.” Some 600 Muslim students rallied outside the tightly guarded US Embassy, calling US President George W. Bush a “monkey.”

They hurled tomatoes at the embassy compound and laid wreaths outside to symbolize their grief about the war. “President Bush is the head of international terrorism,” read one placard. Many demonstrators shouted “Hang Bush” and some burned posters of him.

Malaysia also rejected the request by the United States to cut diplomatic ties with Iraq and shut down the Iraqi mission in Kuala Lumpur, saying the government sees no reason for ending ties with Baghdad.

“As far as we’re concerned, our position remains the same. We see no reason why we should break off our ties with Baghdad,” Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

He was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency Malaysia would not expel Iraqi diplomats because there was no evidence they were involved in activities that threaten national security.