Denmark's decision to withdraw its diplomats and embassy staff from Jakarta after Muslim protests over Danish newspaper cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad was taken in haste, Indonesia's foreign minister said today.
The Danish foreign ministry said yesterday diplomats and staff had been withdrawn because of security threats in the world's most populous Muslim nation.
"We think this decision was quite hasty. We have given protection to the ambassador and his staff.
Moreover, the demonstrations in Indonesia have been relatively peaceful," Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said.
"There is no good reason, but it is for them to decide," he told reporters on the sidelines of an Asian inter-religious forum. Militant Indonesian Muslims went on a rampage early this month inside the lobby of a Jakarta building housing the Danish embassy.
They threw rotten eggs and tomatoes at the embassy symbol and tore up a Danish national flag, but were unable to get past police inside the lobby.
Denmark has also urged its citizens to leave Indonesia, warning of "clear and present" danger from Muslim radicals seeking revenge for the cartoons. Wirajuda said Indonesia did not have any specific information about the threats.
"(Denmark) said they received threats through the telephone but we have no way to confirm that. We have heard of such things before and usually they are only rhetoric," he said.
Denmark has been the target of protests in Islamic countries since cartoons of the Prophet, first published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September, were reprinted by other European newspapers in January.
Today, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the cartoon furore was not a sign that there was a clash between Islam and the Western civilisation or other religions.
"This is press, media without tolerance versus (dignity of) the faith. This is because tolerance was not implemented," he told East Asian religious leaders from 10 faiths.
Indonesian officials, including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and religious leaders have said they understand the strong reaction from Muslims.
"(The cartoons) reflect the insensitivity of the newspaper. It did hurt Muslims but the ways we choose to express our wrath must be peaceful and far from anarchy," Wirajuda said.
Top Indonesian Islamic leaders have called on Muslims to avoid violence in protests against the printing of the cartoons, which in some countries have turned deadly.