Indonesia urges 'thorough' probe on Lebanon peacekeeper deaths

Indonesia said Friday it had submitted a joint statement on peacekeeper security with dozens of allied nations to the United Nations after three of its blue helmets were killed in Lebanon.

In the joint statement, the countries urged the UN Security Council to conduct a thorough investigation into the incidents in Southern Lebanon that killed three Indonesian peacekeepers and wounded several others, including from France, Ghana, Nepal, and Poland.

The Foreign Ministry in Jakarta said 73 countries and UN observer nations supported the statement, delivered by Indonesia's permanent representative to the UN, Umar Hadi, in New York.

"The safety and security of UN peacekeepers are non-negotiable. We urge the UN Security Council to use all available instruments to strengthen protection for peacekeeping forces amid an increasingly dangerous situation," the ministry quoted Umar as saying.

"Troop-contributing countries also call for an end to violence in Lebanon, de-escalation of tensions, and encourage all parties to return to the negotiating table to achieve a peaceful settlement," it added.

Three Indonesian peacekeepers died in two separate blasts in southern Lebanon in late March.

A third blast less than a week later -- inside a UN facility in southern Lebanon -- injured three more Indonesian soldiers.

The deadly incidents sparked calls from Indonesian authorities for an investigation and security guarantees for peacekeeping forces.

The Foreign Ministry has called the attacks "unacceptable".

It urged the UN Security Council "to immediately convene a meeting of troop-contributing countries to UNIFIL (the UN Interim Force in Lebanon) to conduct a review and take measures to enhance the protection of personnel serving with UN Interim Force in Lebanon".

President Prabowo Subianto has said he "strongly condemns every heinous act that undermines peace and causes the deaths of our nation's soldiers".