Susilo, Badawi agree to settle rift peacefully<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Malaysian Prime Minister
\nAbdullah Ahmad Badawi agreed on Monday to resolve the border
\ndispute off Borneo through diplomacy. War machines on both sides
\nhave been put into action over the last few days.<\/p>\n
The leaders reached the agreement during a 10-minute talk.
\nBadawi call Susilo moments before the latter made a visit to the
\nisland of Sebatik, near the disputed maritime area of Ambalat, on
\na warship.<\/p>\n
\"I have just talked to Malaysian Prime Minister (Badawi) for
\n10 minutes by phone, which resulted in two conclusions. Firstly,
\nboth sides agreed to control the (mounting) tension in the field,
\nto avoid open conflict. Secondly, the Malaysian prime minister
\nwill send his foreign minister to Jakarta immediately to hold
\ntalks on the dispute with us. The meeting will be hosted by the
\nIndonesian foreign minister,\" the President said.<\/p>\n
To help resolve the dispute, the government will also strictly
\nenact Presidential Decree No. 44\/1994 on development in the
\nKalimantan border areas. Susilo said the border conflict was
\nsparked by the poor condition of infrastructure in Indonesian
\nareas bordering Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Upon his arrival on Tarakan island, East Kalimantan, the
\nPresident and his entourage, including several ministers and
\nIndonesian Military (TNI) Chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, boarded
\na warship bound for Sebatik to observe the situation in the field
\nand to speak with military personnel deployed there.<\/p>\n
Susilo toured the islands after several warships and four F-16
\njet fighters were deployed to counter the presence of Malaysian
\npatrol ships and planes in the disputed area over the last few
\ndays.<\/p>\n
The two neighbors became embroiled in tension after Malaysia's
\nstate-owned oil company Petronas granted contracts to the Shell
\ncompany to explore two deep-water blocks in the now-disputed
\nmaritime area of Ambalat last month.<\/p>\n
Badawi confirmed that bilateral talks will take place to
\nresolve the row. \"To prevent any undesirable incidents that may
\ncreate tension in the relationship between Indonesia and
\nMalaysia, both of us agreed for the matter to be discussed at the
\ndiplomatic level,\" he was quoted by Malaysia's official Bernama
\nnews agency as saying.<\/p>\n
The tension comes as Malaysia cracks down on hundreds of
\nthousands of illegal migrants, mostly from Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Previously, the two neighbors locked horns over sovereignty of
\nsmall border islands, Sipadan and Ligitan, to the east of
\nSebatik. The International Court of Justice ruled in December,
\n2002 that the islands belonged to Malaysia.<\/p>\n
As tension mounted, anti-Malaysia rallies continued in
\nJakarta, Semarang, Surabaya, Makassar and other major cities
\nthroughout the country.<\/p>\n
Thousands of youths and students in Palu and Makassar, two
\nmajor cities in Sulawesi, took to the streets, announcing their
\nreadiness to fight for Indonesia's pride over the disputed
\nwaters.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta some 200 members of the Study Forum for Democratic
\nAction demonstrated outside the Malaysian Embassy in the Kuningan
\nbusiness district, waving banners and denouncing Indonesia's
\nclosest neighbor.<\/p>\n
An opinion story run by New Straits Times on March 5,
\nquestioned Indonesia's reaction, which it considered excessive.<\/p>\n
The writer, Azmi Hassan, said he did not understand the
\nobjective of the provocation conducted by the Indonesian warships
\nand jets, since it was not a secret that the TNI's war machines
\nwere not in good condition following the 13-year United States'
\nmilitary embargo.<\/p>\n
He said that when the tsunami devastated Aceh recently, the
\nIndonesian military found it difficult to help Acehnese people
\nand had to rely on foreign militaries because of its lack of
\noperational assets.<\/p>\n
Diplomacy -- Page 2<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/susilo-badawi-agree-to-settle-rift-peacefully-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }