[Kabar-indonesia] update: Indonesia says troops could join UN force in Oct

[Joyo at aol.com]

also: Indonesia to send 1,000 troops to Lebanon:
minister

Indonesia says troops could join UN force in Oct

JAKARTA, September 1 (Reuters) - Indonesian troops are
almost certain to take part in a U.N. peacekeeping
mission to Lebanon and could be dispatched next month,
Indonesia's defence minister said on Friday.

"Maybe in mid-October," Juwono Sudarsono said when
asked when Indonesian forces could be sent, adding
that Indonesia had a 90 percent chance of taking part
in the U.N. force.

He said the United Nations would announce the make-up
of the force from Asian countries on Saturday.

Asked if Israel had agreed to Indonesia's
participation in the U.N.

force, he said: "Regardless of that, we abide by any
U.N. decision and it's the U.N. that has to convince
Israel." Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim
country, has offered 1,000 troops including a company
of engineers as part of the U.N. mission to police a
ceasefire in southern Lebanon after a month of war
between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas.

The Indonesian troop deployment offer had faced
opposition from Israel, which had said it wanted
peacekeepers only from nations recognising the Jewish
state, but U.N. sources have said Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert was now expected to relax that stance.

Indonesia has no diplomatic ties with Israel.

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Indonesia to send 1,000 troops to Lebanon: minister

JAKARTA, September 1 (AFP) -- Israel has dropped its
objections to Indonesia's participation in the
expanded UN force in Lebanon, and Jakarta will send up
to 1,000 troops, Indonesia's defence minister told AFP
on Friday.

"We are going to carry this out based on the (mandate)
from the United Nations ... with the deployment under
the UN flags. Automatically, Israel's objection does
not apply," said the minister, Juwono Sudarsono.

He said "some officials" from Jakarta had been in
contact with their Israeli counterparts through third
parties and received clear signs that Israel had
accepted Indonesia's troops, when asked if Israel had
given the go-ahead.

"I don't know who made the contacts but ... there are
parties from the government who had carried out
contacts through third parties," Sudarsono told AFP.

Israel had said it would not accept troops from
countries with which it has no diplomatic relations --
such as Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim
nation -- being deployed on its border to police the
ceasefire with Hezbollah.

Sudarsono said a 12-member advance party from
Indonesia was due to leave for Lebanon "within a few
days", while the contingent was expected to be on the
ground within a month.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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