Australia reiterates support for RI's territorial integrity<\/p>\n
Agencies, Sydney, Australia<\/p>\n
Australia could face an unstable region if the Indonesian
\nprovince of Aceh becomes independent, Foreign Minister Alexander
\nDowner warned on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\"Australia's position is to support the territorial integrity
\nof Indonesia,\" he said. \"Obviously we would prefer a negotiated
\nsettlement.\"<\/p>\n
\"My concern is that if Indonesia as a state gradually broke
\nup, if you started to abandon the colonial boundaries, the
\nconcept of the Dutch East Indies becoming the Republic of
\nIndonesia, it would set in place a chain reaction,\" Downer said
\non ABC television.<\/p>\n
He said such a development would result in a \"disastrous
\nsecurity situation in Southeast Asia.\"<\/p>\n
\"It would set people against people in the region, possibly
\nhaving quite direct international implications,\" Downer said.<\/p>\n
He said while it might not directly involve Australia, a break
\nup would result in \"us having a fundamentally unstable region
\njust to our north.\"<\/p>\n
\"We have enough problems in the region without compounding
\nthem by supporting the dissolution of Indonesia,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Downer said Australia strongly supported Indonesia's defense
\nof its territorial integrity by opposing Aceh separatists.<\/p>\n
Downer said Australia's ambassador to Indonesia, David
\nRitchie, had discussed Aceh with Indonesian ministers on Friday.
\nThere were assurances that Jakarta had left the door open for
\nnegotiations with Free Aceh Movement (GAM).<\/p>\n
\"Now is it up to GAM to go to the Indonesians and say they
\nwill hand down their weapons and return to the negotiating table
\nand the Indonesians will accept that,\" Downer said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia launched a military offensive in the oil- and gas-
\nrich province of Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island,
\nlast week after talks in Tokyo failed to salvage a Dec. 9 cease-
\nfire. The rebels refused to give up their independence bid and
\nboth sides accused the other of violating a truce.<\/p>\n
The military has around 30,000 troops in the region against
\npoorly equipped guerrillas, estimated to number 3,000 to 5,000.<\/p>\n
The campaign is Indonesia's largest military operation since
\nit invaded East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, in 1975. In
\nthe years that followed East Timor also saw a separatist
\ninsurgency.<\/p>\n
In 1999 it broke free of Indonesian rule through a UN-
\nsponsored ballot that ignited a wave of violence by pro-Jakarta
\nforces. Australian troops led an international force that
\nrestored order and so allowed East Timor to become fully
\nindependent last year.<\/p>\n
However, in his interview Downer signaled that Australia's
\nposition on Aceh is much different.<\/p>\n
The Free Aceh Movement has been fighting for independence
\nsince 1976. About 12,000 people have been killed in the conflict.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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