RI's lead role in Iraq resolution is put to the test

Jakarta, NU Online
Indonesia has started to play an international role by taking its first step to help find ways of ending the sectarian fighting in Iraq between the rival Shiite and Sunni groups.

Through a two-day conference that ended last Wednesday, participated in by 15 delegates from the Middle East and Southeast Asia, Indonesia displayed its real care for the war-ravaged Muslim nation.<>

The rare forum also showed the world that the largest Muslim country in the globe can help mediate international efforts to tackle the issue of Iraq through non-military approaches.

The meeting can be seen as part of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's proposed triple-track solution to the Iraq war, which he announced during U.S. President George Bush's visit to Indonesia.

Indonesia went to great effort to make the meeting a success, with the meeting being opened by President Yudhoyono and closed by his deputy, Jusuf Kalla.

This high state courtesy offered to the Bogor meeting, however, failed to draw an equal response from significant parties, Iraq and Iran in particular, with their influential Shiite and Sunni leaders not in attendance.

A blow also came from the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) with the absence at the meeting of its secretary general, Ekmeleddine Ihsanoglu from Turkey. The OIC only sent his deputy, Izet Kamal Mukti.

Iraq was only represented at the conference by its senior diplomat in Jakarta, Falih Abdul Kadir Al Hayati, and Iran by Shiite cleric Sheikh Mohammad Mehdi Attaskiri. The organizers had invited Iraq's influential Sunni leader Mahmood Al Sumai Dai and Shiite chief Sayed Qodruddin Al Qubbanji. Iran's Ayatullah Muhammad Ali Attaskiri and Iranian chief justice Ayatullah Sayyed Mahmoud Hashemi Sahrudi, both powerful Shiite ulema, should have been present at the meeting, too.

The absence of these Iraqi and Iranian ulema lost the conference some of its prestige and significance, even though the organizers claimed it was still useful for promoting dialogue for peace in Iraq.

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda seemed to argue that the no-show of the charismatic clerics was due to the harmful security situation in Iraq, which he said may have made it impossible for them to leave the war-ravaged country for Jakarta.

However, Nahdlatul Ulama leader Hasyim Muzadi and Muhammadiyah chief Din Syamsuddin as well as some delegates linked the absence to Indonesia's unexpected support for the United Nations Security Council's resolution to impose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear power enrichment program.

The resolution was issued on March 24, a week before the Bogor conference was staged.

Earlier, the United Nations had convinced Indonesia that five Shiite and Sunni leaders from Iraq would attend the Bogor conference, according to minister Hassan. But at the last minute they canceled their participation.

As reported by The Jakarta Post, many believed that they may have come to the meeting if Indonesia had abstained from voting for the sanctions on Iran, or if the conference had taken place before the issuance of the resolution, regardless of whether Indonesia backed or opposed it.

Indonesia's stance against Iran has tarnished its international image as a nonpartisan Muslim country in mediating efforts to end conflict in the Middle East, particularly the Iraq war.

Shiite followers have strong informal and emotional networks worldwide thanks to their minority in the world's Muslim population. Approximately 10 to 15 percent of Muslims internationally follow the Shiite branch.

But in both Iraq and Iran, the Shiite populations constitute a majority. So they share the same feelings and concerns, especially among their imams, if their countries or existences are undermined by others.

Hence the intensive involvement of influential Shiite leaders from the two countries in Iraq's resolution dialog is a crucial factor to making Indonesia's mediatory efforts a success.

In this sense, the Indonesian government's direct part in sponsoring the International Conference of Islamic Leaders for Resolution in Iraq on April 3 and 4 could also be a key element that contributed to the small success of the Bogor meeting.

The forum could have yielded more satisfactory processes and outcomes if the Indonesian government had stayed away from having a direct role in organizing the conference.

In the future, the government should give Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah the lead role in hosting such meetings to reconcile Shiite and Sunni groups in Iraq, and the government should serve only as the financier.

This move would boost Indonesia's independence in resolving the Iraq problem, as some Shiite and Sunni ulema have reportedly doubted the Indonesian government's impartiality in favor of Western powers. Jakarta has also been accused of practicing pragmatism in its foreign diplomacy.

Indonesia's impartiality would in turn increase the traction and trust of relevant parties from the Middle East.

The move to involve Sunni and Shiite ulema in the Bogor dialog was on the right track because what is needed is a potent and effective influence to stop their respective followers from the fighting.

But the serious problem is the fact that Indonesia, whose citizens mostly embrace the Sunni branch of Islam, lacks Islamic influence among the Middle Eastern countries, particularly in the mainly Shiite nations. (dar)