"I hope President Yudhoyono will make an effort to meet with the Saudi King to discuss this problem. (They could discuss this) as both countries are predominantly Muslim countries. I think they can," secretary general of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) Tjahjo Kumolo said here on Thursday.
He said that former president Abdurrahman Wahid once did this (high level diplomacy to save an Indonesian migrant worker from execution.
The PDIP secretary general said that the government efforts so far by sending a diplomatic note through the ministry of foreign affairs were not effective, and based on experience efforts made through diplomatic notes were rarely successful.
"We can have direct negotiations, although we have to pay such as in the case of Darsem. Maybe Indonesian migrant workers committed murders due to certain reasons such as they were likely facing threats or they were raped," he said.
Regarding the discourse over calls for the government to close its diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia, Tjahjo said he did not agree with the idea.
"I don`t think it is good solution, yet the government should have a way out, namely a moratorium," he said.(*)
(A014/HAJM/a014)
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
