ID :
56575
Tue, 04/21/2009 - 12:02
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News Focus: RI TO SEND MORE PEACE-KEEPING TROOPS TO LEBANON

By Eliswan Azly

Jakarta, Apr 21 (ANTARA) - Indonesia in the not too distant future will send more troops to Lebanon to join the United Nations Peace-keeping force in the Middle Eastern country.

The number of Indonesian troops in Lebanon which currently stands at 1,245 will be increased to 2,000 this year, director of international security at Indonesia's foreign ministry Fikry Cassid said after attending a seminar on Indonesia's participation in international peace-keeping missions in Beirut on Monday.

However, the number of Indonesian troops in the UN peace-keeping force assigned in four regions such as Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa is 1,526.

He said Indonesia was one of the countries having a big number of troops in the UN mission.

"In 2009, we plan to raise the number of military troops to 2,000," he said, adding that the plan will have to be reconsidered in view of the global economic crisis.
In the meantime, the commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Major General Claudio Graziano, said the Indonesian infantry reinforcement in May 2009 will make Indonesia one of the important pillars of the UN mission in Lebanon.

Speaking at a one-day seminar on Indonesia's participation in the UN peace-keeping force in Lebanon in Beirut Monday, he said Indonesia had made a great contribution to the UN mission in Lebanon.

"Since its involvement in November 2007, the Indonesian military contingent in the UN peace keeping mission in Lebanon, including its military police contingent in Eastern Lebanon, had contributed a great deal to peace keeping operations in Lebanon," Graziano said.

Not to mention the presence of Indonesian special forces grouped in the Force Head Quarter Support Unit (FHQSU) of UNIFIL, responsible for security, logistics and administrative affairs of all UNIFIL members, he added.

Not only that, Indonesia has also demonstrated its commitment to bring about peace in Lebanon by sending one of its SIGMA corvettes to join the Maritime Task Force (MTF) of UNIFIL along with five other countries, France, Germany, Greece, Turkey and Belgium.
Indonesia was seen as having made many breakthroughs to become more acceptable to the people of Southern Lebanon, such as by way of humanitarian activities covering the local population.

Anyway, good interaction with the local population had become an important key to success of the UN mission in Lebanon or UNIFIL, Graziano said.

However, according to Friky, the participation of Indonesia in the UN peacekeeping mission was aimed at strengthening multilateral cooperation to settle conflicts.

The participation was based on the free-and-active foreign policy laid down in the 1945 constitution and besides, the presence of Indonesian troops was also designed to help improve the capability and professionalism of military and police personnel, he said.

As to the UN mission in Lebanon, Indonesia joined not only the army, but also a maritime task force of UNIFIL with 1,400 troops.

This really indicated Indonesian commitment to keep world peace on the basis of free-and-active foreign policy, Fikry said.

As a matter of fact, what has made the presence of Indonesian troops in Lebanon is so popular ?
since a battalion of Indonesian troops was sent to Lebanon, The battalion has become popularly known as INDO Batt and they are under the coordination of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). They have been conducting their peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, mainly around the country's troubled southern Beirut area.

Only within a few months, a wide variety of activities had been performed by Indonesian troops. They continued to help the local Lebanon Armed Forces (LAF) manage border security affairs with Israel and they focussed everyday on providing assistance to the war-affected southern Lebanese people.

"It is a tough job for Indonesian soldiers. They must master strategic war and defense skills, including negotiation, and they must develop an appropriate knowledge of psychology,"
Abdul Mun'im Ritonga, an official with the Indonesian Foreign Ministry's Directorate for the Middle East attached to the force.

Despite their independent and neutral position on the still-tense Israel-Lebanon border, Indonesian troops must always be ready to defend themselves against any possible armed attack.

They could become trapped in the middle of a conflict between the neighboring nations, especially between Israeli forces and Lebanon's militia, Hezbollah.

They must have basic negotiation or diplomatic skills, because everyday they deal with border issues and disputes.

But for more complicated diplomatic issues during the mission, Indonesian peacekeepers rely on Abdul Mun'im Ritonga, "I help with the diplomatic tasks of the Indonesian peacekeeping force ... and I give some advice on international relations."
The TNI soldiers' involvement in the Middle East has not always been easy. Obvious language barriers add to the task, but so too does the stigma of many peacekeeping missions before them.

The civic mission and better approach to the community which are combined with the main task in the field have been seen an attractive magnet to Lebanese people in the war-torn zone, Ritonga was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying before.


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