Former President Megawati Hosts Iraqi Charge d’Affaires to Discuss Bilateral Ties

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta – Megawati Soekarnoputri, Indonesia’s fifth president and chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), met with Iraqi Embassy Charge d’Affaires Ammar Hameed Saadallah Al-Khalidy at her residence in Menteng, Jakarta, on Monday, April 27, 2026.

The meeting focused on current Middle Eastern affairs and efforts to strengthen bilateral relations between Indonesia and Iraq.

Al-Khalidy opened the discussion by recalling President Sukarno’s historic visit to Baghdad in 1961, when he was warmly welcomed by then-Iraqi Prime Minister Major General Abdel Karim Qassim.

Sukarno, Indonesia’s founding president, is also the father of Megawati. “We still have the documentary film of that historic visit,” Al-Khalidy said in a written statement on Monday, April 27, 2026, as quoted by Antara.

Diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Iraq were formally established in 1950. Iraq was among the first countries to recognize Indonesia’s independence in 1947, and the Indonesian Embassy in Baghdad was opened in March 1950.

“This year marks the 76th anniversary of Indonesia-Iraq relations. We hope these ties remain strong and friendly,” Al-Khalidy said.

During the meeting, Al-Khalidy conveyed Iraq’s official position of rejecting the escalation of conflict in the Middle East. He condemned attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran, as well as Iran’s retaliatory strikes on neighboring countries.

“Our government condemns US and Israeli attacks on Iran, and also Iran’s attacks on its neighbors. We reject war. We support peace,” he emphasized.

Megawati said military action against Iran violates state sovereignty and international law, linking her remarks to the UN Charter and the anti-colonial spirit of the Asia-Africa Conference.

She also revisited Indonesia’s past political stance, recalling her opposition to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq during her presidency, despite her personal friendship with then-US President George W. Bush.

“I was friends with George W. Bush, but our political stances differed. I opposed the US attack on Iraq in 2003 when I was president of Indonesia,” she said.

Megawati further emphasized Indonesia’s position after the September 11 attacks, condemning terrorism but rejecting any association of terrorism with Islam. “I was the first president to visit the US after 9/11. I expressed sympathy and condemned terrorism, but I also rejected linking terrorism with Islamic teachings,” she said.

Megawati noted that she learned geopolitics from Sukarno, recalling his leadership at the Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung and his UN speech, “To Build the World Anew,” which promoted Pancasila, anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism, and UN reform.

Al-Khalidy responded by sharing that he had studied the outcomes of the Asia-Africa Conference while a law student in Baghdad and later worked at the UN on Security Council reform.

“As it turns out, Sukarno had already proposed UN reform in 1960 through his speech, long before the issue became widely discussed in 1993,” Al-Khalidy said.

The meeting concluded with a group photo and an exchange of souvenirs. Megawati presented Bung Karno’s book on Pancasila in English, his UN speech “To Build the World Anew,” and her political biography in Arabic, along with a miniature Borobudur temple and an Endek woven shirt from Bali.

Al-Khalidy gifted Megawati a traditional Iraqi painting depicting the architecture of Al-Kadzimiyah in Baghdad and the city’s signature sweets, al-manna wa salwa. ***