A press release from the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta received here on Tuesday stated the minister who was supposed visit Japan from February 2 to 4 had postponed his trip for he had to stay in Indonesia to handle the evacuation of Indonesian citizens from Egypt.
With the postponement, the first strategic bilateral meeting between Marty Natalegawa and his Japanese counterpart Seiji Maehara had also been delayed.
Earlier on Monday (Jan 31) President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono commanded the evacuation of Indonesians in Egypt by airplanes.
Therefore, the government has formed a special unit of personnel from the Health Ministry and Transportation Ministry, led by a member of the Presidential Advisory Board as well as former Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda.
"We will send an advance team to Egypt tonight," Wirajuda said at the Presidential Office here on Monday.
The former foreign minister said that the advance team would arrange everything needed in the first phase of the evacuation of the thousands of Indonesians in Egypt.
In the first phase priority would be given to the evacuation of about 1,200 women and children, this number could however change in accordance with the situation and developments, Wirajuda said.
In the meantime, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said that planes were now ready to fly to Egypt to evacuate Indonesians in Egypt.
However, the Indonesian government still needed to coordinate with the Egyptian government to secure a landing permit for the planes.
According to Marty, the Indonesian government`s decision to evacuate its citizens was based on the dangerous situation in Egypt.
He said Egypt is now under the control of the military no longer the police. A police station near the Indonesian embassy has even reportedly been destroyed by demonstrators.
The foreign ministry`s latest data indicated that Indonesian citizens in Egypt totaled 6,149, consisting of 4,297 students and 1,002 employees and their families.They are now building communications in 20 command posts.(*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
