Australia, Indonesia hope for security pact to strengthen ties<\/p>\n
Agencies, Canberra<\/p>\n
Australia and Indonesia hope to strike a deal at the end of March
\nto begin negotiating a security pact to strengthen ties and
\ncooperate on counter-terrorism, their foreign ministers said on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
The Indian Ocean neighbors have already started discussing the
\npossibility of a security deal, could unveil plans to begin talks
\non a pact when Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
\nvisits Australia in two weeks.<\/p>\n
\"I think the two leaders ... could endorse the idea and then
\nask the two foreign ministers to work on the draft agreement,\"
\nIndonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said after meeting
\nhis Australian counterpart Alexander Downer in Canberra.<\/p>\n
\"That would be a good achievement in the next two weeks,\"
\nHassan told a news conference.<\/p>\n
Australia and Indonesia have often had a rocky relationship,
\nespecially after Australia led a UN-mandated intervention force
\ninto East Timor in 1999 to quell violence by pro-Indonesia
\nmilitias after Timorese voted for independence from Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Australia and Indonesia signed a security deal in 1995 that
\ncommitted the countries to ministerial consultations about
\nsecurity, increasing cooperation and consultations in the event
\nof a threat to either country or to regional security.<\/p>\n
But the deal collapsed after Indonesia objected to Australia's
\ninvolvement in East Timor, where more than 1,000 people were
\nkilled in fighting, with most deaths blamed on pro-Jakarta
\nmilitias.<\/p>\n
\"(That treaty) was very limited in its contents. What we are
\ncontemplating with this new agreement are much broader areas of
\ncooperation,\" Hassan said.<\/p>\n
Wary of opposition by Indonesians to a pact, Downer said it
\nwould be made clear that both countries respected each others'
\n\"territorial integrity\".<\/p>\n
\"I think if we keep working at (a security pact) we could put
\nsomething together in months, not years,\" Downer said.<\/p>\n
\"We're looking to bring together areas of cooperation such as
\ncounter-terrorism, dealing with people-smuggling, cooperation
\nbetween our respective police forces and cooperation between our
\ndefense forces.\"<\/p>\n
Downer said the new agreement would be nothing like
\nAustralia's 54-year-old defense treaty with the United States.<\/p>\n
\"What we have both said to each other from the outset is we
\ndon't want a kind of security or a defense pact,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Ties have improved in recent years and efforts to strengthen
\nAustralia's relationship with the world's most populous Muslim
\ncountry gained momentum after Susilo became Indonesia's first
\ndirectly elected president in October.<\/p>\n
Australia and Indonesian police have worked closely after the
\n2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, including 88
\nAustralians, and again since a car bomb exploded outside
\nAustralia's Jakarta embassy last September, killing 10 people.<\/p>\n
Australian and Indonesian ministers met in Canberra for the
\nseventh annual ministerial meeting between the two countries.
\nAustralia said it would provide Indonesia with A$5 million (US$4
\nmillion) to support local elections and A$2 million for anti-
\nmoney laundering programs.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's delegation urged Australia to lift official
\nwarnings that advise against travel to the archipelago because
\nthey were damaging the economy.<\/p>\n
Other prickly issues such as illegal fishing in Australian
\nwaters and autonomy for the Indonesian provinces of Aceh and
\nPapua were also raised, while there was common ground on counter-
\nterrorism, democratic reform in Indonesia and tsunami relief.<\/p>\n
The travel advisories were strengthened after the Bali bombing
\nto warn against non-essential travel to Indonesia and urge
\nAustralians in the country to exercise extreme caution because of
\nan ongoing terrorist threat.<\/p>\n
Canberra has refused to withdraw the advice in the face of
\nrepeated requests from Jakarta, most recently reissuing it on
\nMarch 11.<\/p>\n
The Australian ministers responded to the latest request by
\nnoting that government travel advisories remained under constant
\nreview.<\/p>\n
\"At the end of the day, we either have a travel advisory
\nsystem that is honest and upfront or we don't have one at all,\"
\nDowner said.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Economic Minister Aburizal Bakrie said his
\nministers had also argued for freer access to visas for
\nIndonesians who want to travel to Australia.<\/p>\n
Australian ministers noted that 95 percent of applicants were
\ngranted visas and that issuing visas on arrival at Australian
\nairports would pose security risks.<\/p>",
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