Asian ties not worsened: Howard

Asian ties not worsened: Howard

Belinda Goldsmith, Reuters, Canberra

Australia brushed aside criticism from Asian neighbors of its
treatment of Muslims after the Bali bombings, adamant its
relations with Asia remained good but stressing on Thursday that
national security came first.

Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand have accused Australia of
over-reacting by advising Australians against travel in Southeast
Asia and to leave Indonesia in the wake of the October 12 blasts
that killed more than 180 people, about 90 of them Australian.

The criticism crescendoed when Australian intelligence
officers and police, wielding sledgehammers, raided several
Muslim homes to hunt down supporters of the banned Islamic group
Jamaah Islamiah, suspected of involvement in the Bali attacks.

But Prime Minister John Howard denied any deterioration in
relations with Asia, where Australia is often accused of being a
regional bully, tied to the United States' apron strings.

"This is obviously a challenging time, but I think we have to
look beneath the surface and understand that the undercurrent of
relationships between Australia and different Asian countries is
still very good," Howard told a news conference.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, might
disagree, with the tension straining historically rocky relations
that hit a low in 1999 when Australia led a U.N. force into East
Timor after a vote to break free from Jakarta sparked violence.

Nearly 500 noisy protesters demonstrated outside Australia's
embassy in Jakarta on Tuesday, yelling anti-Australian slogans
and condemning Canberra's handling of the Bali investigation.

Indonesia's acting ambassador to Australia, Imron Cotan, said
if the raids did not stop, Jakarta may have to pull out of a
joint investigation into the bombing of nightclubs packed with
tourists on the Indonesian holiday island.

Boxes of computers, mobile phones and documents were seized in
the raids, mainly on homes belonging to Indonesians, but there do
not appear to have been any arrests and the authorities have
declined to reveal why up to 20 people were targeted.

Howard flatly dismissed claims that the 500,000 or so Muslims
in Australia were any more unsafe than other citizens.
"You are as protected and as important a part of our country as
anyone else," Howard said.

"The...raids were not directed against Islamic people, they
were not directed specifically of people of any religion or any
race...they have been carried out for good reason."

He said national security was paramount following the Sept. 11
attacks in the United States and the Bali bombs.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, speaking after an
Australia-Japan Conference in Japan, blamed Indonesian media for
fanning anti-Australian feelings in the Muslim nation.

"There's been a lot of inflammatory language expressed in the
Indonesian media, by the Indonesian media, and I think this is a
time that calls for cool heads," he said.

"But I'm confident the controversy in Indonesia will die down
fairly quickly."