JAKARTA, June 28 (Xinhuanet) -- The Indonesian government welcomed on Monday the handover of sovereignty in Iraq but said it would remain vigilant to see that the process will go on in a "substantive manner."

    "This has been one of the overriding concerns for Indonesia from the very day the occupation began... For the Iraqi sovereignty to be restored as soon as possible," Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa told a press conference here.

    "At the same time, we will be vigilant. We would be looking to what extent the reassertion of sovereignty materialized on substantive manner. Our interest is for a key role of the United Nations in that process," he said.

    "We hope very much that this development will help in some way reduce the obvious escalation of violence which has recently takenplace in Iraq," he added.

    Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation, is a strong critic to the US-led military occupation in Iraq.

    The US-led coalition formally transferred sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government in Baghdad on Monday. Enditem