Zarqawi's death will not defeat terror: Indonesia

Indonesia is considered at the forefront of efforts to defeat Islamic militant groups and has seen a spate of attacks on its soil.

Indonesia said on Friday that US efforts to catch and kill militants such as Al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, would not be able to defeat global terrorism on their own.

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"Whether or not Zarqawi's death will have a significant meaning, we have to see that efforts to combat terrorism are not limited only to chasing, arresting or killing a certain figure," foreign ministry spokesman Desra Percaya said.

He was asked whether Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, believed that Zarqawi's death in a US air raid on a safe house in the Iraqi town of Baquba would deliver a fatal blow to Al-Qaeda's operations in Iraq.

Percaya said the so-called "war on terror" should be carried out through multilateral rather than unilateral means but did not elaborate.

"There are basic issues on terrorism that need to be addressed and we are obligated to address them," the spokesman said.

Zarqawi, 39, had been blamed for countless attacks in Iraq and accused of personally beheading foreign hostages.

Indonesia is considered at the forefront of efforts to defeat Islamic militant groups and has seen a spate of attacks on its soil, the worst of which in October 2002 saw more than 200 people killed on the resort island of Bali.