Leaders of the eight industrialised nations meeting in Birmingham this weekend said last night they were "deeply concerned" at the situation in Indonesia, urging the authorities to show maximum restraint and to refrain from the use of lethal force, Sean Mac Carthaigh reports. They also condemned the five nuclear tests carried out by India this week.
In a statement issued late last night the G8 leaders said successful economic reform in Indonesia - and the international support it requires - needed stability. The statement fell short of calling on President Suharto to resign, but demanded that his forces "respect individual rights".
"The current social unrest indicates that, to resolve the crisis political as well as economic reform is necessary," the statement added. "We encourage the authorities to respond rapidly, by opening a dialogue which addresses the aspirations of the Indonesian people and by introducing the necessary reforms".
The G8 leaders said India's nuclear bomb tests this week had caused immediate international concern and opposition. "Such action runs counter to the will expressed by 149 signatories to the CTBT to cease nuclear testing, to efforts to strengthen the global non-proliferation regime and to steps to enhance regional and international peace and security," the statement continued.
The statement called on India to "rejoin the mainstream of international opinion", and on Pakistan to "exercise maximum restraint in the face of these tests".
The G8 leaders expressed their dismay at the continuing stalemate in the Middle East peace process and the continuing violence in Kosovo.