Google – AFP, Olivia Rondonuwu (AFP), 26 November 2013
Jakarta — Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Tuesday Australia's leader had made "important" commitments aimed at ending a row over spying but warned much more work was needed before ties returned to normal.
Jakarta — Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Tuesday Australia's leader had made "important" commitments aimed at ending a row over spying but warned much more work was needed before ties returned to normal.
But even as
tensions calmed with Canberra, they threatened to escalate elsewhere, with
Yudhoyono saying his government would summon the South Korean and Singaporean
envoys over new espionage claims.
Allegations
that Australian spies tried to listen to the phones of Yudhoyono, his wife and
his ministers in 2009 surfaced last week and sparked a diplomatic crisis.
Jakarta
reacted furiously, ending cooperation on military exercises and in the key area
of people-smuggling and recalling its ambassador from Australia.
Indonesia
was further infuriated by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's failure to
apologise or offer what it saw as a clear explanation.
But on
Tuesday Yudhoyono struck a conciliatory tone after receiving a letter from
Abbott aimed at calming the row with a key ally and trading partner.
The letter
contained a "commitment from the Australian PM that Australia will not do
anything in the future that will disadvantage or disturb Indonesia", the
president said.
"That
is a very important point," Yudhoyono added.
He said
Abbott supported his proposal to come up with a "protocols" and a
code of ethics to govern relations between the neighbours that were
"clear, fair and abided to".
Yudhoyono
described a long process, that would involve assigning the foreign minister or
a special envoy to work with the Australians.
After the
details were hammered out, a formal ceremony would have to take place to bring
the new agreements into place, attended by both Abbott and Yudhoyono, said the
president.
Only after
the two countries have "regained trust" in this fashion could normal relations
and cooperation be restored, said the president.
However
Yudhoyono reacted angrily to new reports that South Korea and Singapore helped
with US-Australian surveillance in the region.
The Sydney
Morning Herald reported Monday that both countries played key roles in a
"Five Eyes" intelligence network grouping the United States, Britain,
Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
It quoted a
top-secret US National Security Agency map that it said was published by Dutch
newspaper NRC Handelsblad.
The
president said that even though Indonesia was not specifically named in the
reports, he was nevertheless angry as the whole of Asia was mentioned.
"I
have instructed our foreign minister to ask for an explanation from the
ambassadors of those countries," he said.
A
presidential spokesman confirmed Yudhoyono meant the envoys would be summoned.
Malaysia's
foreign ministry earlier Tuesday summoned the ambassador from neighbouring
Singapore over the same report.
The report
said that as a major hub for regional telecommunications traffic, Singapore was
an important link in the surveillance network.
The
allegations that Australian spies targeted Indonesian officials has also
sparked anger among the Indonesian public, and on Tuesday a crowd of
demonstrators in military-style uniforms protested outside the Australian
embassy.
The
protesters, from a paramilitary group, burned photos of Abbott and demanded the
Australian ambassador leave the country.
The alleged
spying was first revealed by Australian media last week, which based its
reports on leaked documents from US intelligence fugitive Edward Snowden.
They showed
that Australia's electronic intelligence agency tracked Yudhoyono's activity on
his mobile phone for 15 days in August 2009 under the previous Canberra
government.
At least
one phone call was reportedly intercepted.
Related Articles:
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Related Articles:
Indonesia-Australia Rift Closer to Exit as Singapore, S. Korea Enter Spy Scandal
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SBY Focus of Australia Spy Attempt: Report
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