RI asks Lebanon, Israel to refrain from provocative moves

foto:detik news

Jakarta - Menko Polhukam Djoko Suyanto berpendapat media massa Libanon yang menuding 2 personel TNI melarikan diri saat bentrok Israel-Libanon karena tidak mengerti mekanisme tentara penjaga perdamaian saat terjadi konfrontasi. Libanon disuruh membuktikan bila tentara Indonesia dinilai tidak bertanggungjawab.

Mustaqim Adamrah, THE JAKARTA POST, JAKARTA | Fri, 08/06/2010 10:43 AM | World

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Renewed tension between Lebanese and Israeli troops in the "south of Lebanese territory" may further escalate after a clash Tuesday in the border area.

But Indonesia, which is part of a United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, may help prevent that from happening, a lawmaker and an expert say.

"Indonesian forces, as part of the UNIFIL *United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon*, are responsible for preventing any arms use by civilians in Lebanon," Golkar Party lawmaker Tantowi Yahya told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

"It would be very reasonable for the *Indonesian* foreign minister to talk to the Lebanese authorities to *maintain peace*, and not carry out any provoking activities there," he said, adding the clash had only perturbed attempts to maintain peace.

Echoing Tantowi, the Habibie Center's international relations expert Indria Samego said being a peacekeeper meant Indonesia should be active in conflict resolutions, although Indonesia only had diplomatic relations with Lebanon.

"As a peacekeeper under the authority of the UN, we should not be passive. We must be able to lobby both sides to *put everything on hold*, and at least be rid of subjective interpretations," he told the Post.

But both Tantowi and Indria agreed that a peacekeeping force must be neutral despite the UNIFIL's conclusion Wednesday that the clash took place on the Israeli side.

"UNIFIL established... that the trees cut by the Israeli army are located south of the Blue Line on the Israeli side," UNIFIL military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Naresh Bhatt said Wednesday, referring to a border line drawn by the United Nations after Israeli troops withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, Reuters reported.

UNIFIL also said as quoted by Reuters that, "both parties renewed their commitment to the cessation of hostilities... and undertook to work with UNIFIL to ensure that incidents of violence are avoided in the future."

Indonesia, which has deployed around 1,300 army, navy, air force personnel to the Blue Line, is part of the UNIFIL, along with Germany, Greece, Italy and Turkey, tasked to maintain peace in the border area following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon after their occupancy for two decades.

Defense Ministry spokesman I Wayan Midhio said it was the UN's authority to make such a conclusion, and Indonesia could only ask for information from the country's contingent commander in the field about the current situation there.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said he expected all conflicting parties to refrain from any possible clashes as "any incidents have the potential to become out of control".

Tuesday's violence began after Israeli soldiers used a crane to reach over a frontier fence to trim a tree whose branches, the Israeli military said, were tripping the fence's electronic anti-infiltration devices. It said its soldiers had stayed within Israel and the tree was south of the Blue Line.

Lebanese Information Minister Tareq Mitri acknowledged that the area was south of the line, but said it was still Lebanese territory. Israel and Lebanon dispute parts of the Blue Line.

UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy told reporters in New York that the Israeli tree-cutting took place south of the line but north of an Israeli-built technical fence at a disputed and undemarcated area.

sumber:the jakatapost