JAKARTA, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia had proposed three paths for the United States to follow to settle the problem in Iraq, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda here Monday said in an annual press statement.

    The three paths are "reconciliation among the groups in Iraq leading to an international convention, setting up a buffer force with troops from moderate Islamic countries and countries friendly with Iraq and rehabilitating as well as reconstructing Iraq's economy," Wirayuda said.

    Indonesia also concerned about the US plan to send more troops to Iraq to deal with escalating conflicts in that country, he said.

    "The presence of forces of the United States and its allies are part of the Iraq problem," he noted.

    Therefore, a different approach, including involvement of the international community, should be taken to handle the situation in Iraq.

    He said Indonesia as a predominantly Muslim country could not remain idle in observing the conflict in Iraq.

    Wirayoda said he had discussed the proposal with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when they met during an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting last November in Vietnam and it had also been discussed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and U.S. President George W. Bush when the two met in Bogor recently.

    "The US has been quite responsive at least when discussing the idea," he said.

    He said Indonesia considered the Iraq problem a responsibility of the international community. "We cannot just see the US settle the problem by itself with its own policies," he said.