Australia govt fears for image after RI embassy powder scare
Australia govt fears for image after RI embassy powder scare
Mike Corder, Associated Press/Sydney
Australia's government is worried its image in Asia will suffer after an anthrax scare closed Indonesia's embassy in Canberra, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Sunday.
The embassy was sealed off Wednesday and staff decontaminated after a package containing white powder was opened.
Tests later confirmed the powder was harmless. The government believes the apparent hoax was linked to a public backlash over a 20-year drug smuggling sentence handed to 27-year-old Schapelle Corby last month by a court on the Indonesian island of Bali.
"We've obviously been very concerned ... about the impact of the reaction to the Schapelle Corby verdict and subsequent events, including the powder sent to the Indonesian embassy, that that could have on Australia's standing in Asia, and Australia's relationship in Indonesia, that obviously is a big factor for us," Downer told television's Nine Network.
"So we've had to work to ensure that that's kept under control and I think on the whole we have managed to do that."
Australian diplomats have for years been trying to boost relations with the country's neighbors and trading partners in Asia. Canberra is hoping to be involved in a meeting later this year in Malaysia that is expected to launch discussions aimed at setting up an east Asian trading bloc.
On Saturday, about 30 members of the Indonesian group Caring Committee of Nation Children unfurled large banners reading "Corby, drug dealers must die" and "Narkoba (drugs) destroys our young generation" outside the Australian Embassy in the capital, Jakarta.
A statement from the group urged Indonesians to support Corby's sentence, and to reject any Australian attempts at intervention into Indonesia's political and legal affairs.
On Saturday, protest organizers stressed the case's possible diplomatic fallout.
"We don't want to see the case of a single person like Corby have to damage our bilateral relations," said rally organizer Beathor Suryadi. "Australians should realize that. Otherwise, we have to sever the diplomatic ties if needed."
Downer said he did not think the protest would have any effect on the case of Corby, who is appealing her conviction and sentence, claiming judges did not give enough weight to her defense that baggage handlers planted 4.1 kilograms of marijuana in her surfboard bag.
"It's an endeavor by some people, I don't know who they are, to try to put a counter view to the view that's been expressed very strongly in Australia," he said.
"But I wouldn't draw any conclusions from it one way or the other, I don't think it will have any impact."