FM Summons British Ambassador over West Papua

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa here on Monday summons British Ambassador to Indonesia, Mark Canning over the opening of Free West Papua office in Oxford, England, last week.

"I was summoned to see His Excellency the Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa this morning. The Minister conveyed to me in clear terms the strong concern of the Indonesian Government at the opening of a Free West Papua office in Oxford," Ambassador Canning said in a written statement received by ANTARA on Monday (May 6/2013).

During the Monday meeting the ambassador explained to Marty that Britain recognized the sensitivity of this issue for Indonesia. He also reiterated the position of British government over the issue saying that Britain respects the territorial integrity of Indonesia and do not support calls for Papuan independence.

"We regard Papua as being part of Indonesia. That has always been our view, and this recent development, which has nothing whatsoever to do with the British Government, does nothing to change that," he said.

"We also support the effort of those, like the Presidential Delivery Unit (UKP4), who are trying to address the problems of Papua and hope to see it enjoy the same level of peace, stability and prosperity as the other parts of this nation. I made these points to Papua Governor Lukas Enembe when we met last week,". (*/DWA)