JAKARTA, 27 March 2004 — Indonesia yesterday criticized the US government’s decision to veto a United Nations resolution condemning the recent assassination of Hamas leader Saheikh Ahmed Yassin by Israeli authorities.
“The Indonesian government deeply regrets once more that the UN Security Council has failed in its effort to take responsibility for international security and order,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa.
“We regret it, particularly as the (UN’s) failure was a result of the US’s move to use its veto right,” he said, adding that the Indonesian government reiterated its support for the Palestinian people.
Natalegawa, addressing a weekly press conference, was responding to reports from New York that United Nations Security Council yesterday morning had failed to pass a resolution condemning the assassination of Yassin by Israeli troops after the United States vetoed the motion.
He criticized the United States’ unbalanced policy on the Middle East issues, in particular in regard to the Palestinian problem.
Meanwhile, about 40 members of the Indonesian Muslims for Palestine Solidarity gathered outside the US Embassy in Jakarta to protest the veto and wave posters of Yassin, who was killed on Monday.
Indonesia has strongly condemned and deplored the killing of Yassin, while Muslim leaders have accused the Jewish state of being the mastermind of terrorism. The militant group Indonesian Mujahideen Council (MMI), chaired by the convicted radical scholar Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, earlier this week called on Muslims around the world to join a jihad in Palestine against Israel and the United States.
