RI ties altered forever: Howard<\/p>\n
SYDNEY, Australia (AP): Australian Prime Minister John Howard
\nsaid Thursday tensions between the two neighbors due to the East
\nTimor issue may never be fully repaired.<\/p>\n
He said top-level efforts to repair diplomatic relations
\nbetween Australia and Indonesia have been set back by the delay
\nof a visit by Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid.<\/p>\n
Howard said he was not surprised that Abdurrahman had called
\noff the visit that had been penciled-in for next month.<\/p>\n
\"We always knew it would take a while to rebuild the
\nrelationship, and it is,\" Howard told reporters during a visit to
\nFrance.<\/p>\n
\"It (the relationship) will never be the same. That's not
\nnecessarily a bad thing, that's not to say it won't grow closer
\nthan it is now.\"<\/p>\n
Analysts in Australia said the postponement of Abdurrahman's
\nvisit was clearly a snub to Australia.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman has visited more than 30 countries since coming to
\npower, and will make a trip to Egypt and possibly Europe next
\nmonth.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab said recently there
\nwere other countries Abdurrahman could visit \"which will bring
\ngreater benefit than spending time visiting Australia.\"<\/p>\n
In an editorial Thursday, The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper
\nsaid the spying case against the Australian soldier was among
\nreasons Abdurrahman had changed his mind about the May visit.<\/p>\n
\"The domestic reaction may well have helped to persuade him
\nthat, for the moment, the time is not ripe to be seen in
\nCanberra,\" the Herald said.<\/p>\n
Greg Sheridan, The Australian newspaper's foreign editor,
\nwrote that the postponement was \"a clear and deliberate snub\" to
\nHoward's government.<\/p>\n
Indonesia and Australia, who had worked hard to build ties for
\na decade, fell out in the second half of 1999 after Australia's
\nrole following the ballot in East Timor on Aug. 30.<\/p>\n
Soon after he assumed office in October, Abdurrahman accused
\nAustralia of being \"childish\" in its attitudes toward Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Rhetoric improved early this year and after meeting Australian
\nForeign Minister Alexander Downer in Jakarta, Abdurrahman said he
\nwanted to visit Australia.<\/p>\n
In the most recent incident, it was discovered that an
\nAustralian soldier in East Timor had paid a former militia member
\nto spy in Indonesian West Timor.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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