Australia plays down RI 'warplane incident'

Australia plays down RI 'warplane incident'

SYDNEY (AFP): Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Sunday Australia would not pursue an incident between Indonesian and Australian warplanes.

"There was an incident, our ambassador's raised it with the Indonesians and we will just let it pass," he told Channel Nine TV.

Downer said the Australian pilots were forced to use hand signals to communicate with the Indonesian pilots during the interception in international airspace.

The incident occurred on Wednesday amid continuing allegations of Australian invasions of Indonesian air space, which have all been denied by Australia.

On Wednesday morning four unarmed F/A18s and one B-707 of the Royal Australian Air Force were en route to Singapore from Darwin when they were intercepted by two armed Indonesian F5 aircraft south of West Timor.

"The RAAF believes the aircraft were armed," Downer said.

"These five Australian aircraft did have approval to overfly Indonesia.

"After the F-5 aircraft flew by - one of them apparently flew within 20 feet (six meters) of one of the Australian aircraft - after this incident the Australian aircraft continued on their journey across Indonesia and through to Singapore."

Downer said he did not believe the Australian planes were threatened.

"As I understand it, what happened was the two aircraft came up to meet with the five Australian aircraft and flew alongside them," he said.

"The Indonesians say that they had endeavored to communicate by radio and were unable to do so, so there were some communications between the Australian F-18 pilots and the Indonesian F-5 pilots through hand signals.

"Then the F-5 aircraft left."

Downer said the Indonesians had very recently moved the aircraft to a new base, closer to Australia, but said no conclusions should be drawn from that.

"I think it's possible that the Indonesians at the airbase weren't aware of the clearances that had been given but I just don't know.

Indonesia has made repeated claims that Australian aircraft have violated its airspace, with one legislator going so far as to suggest these so-called black flights should be shot down.

No evidence of the flights has been produced and Australia has consistently denied them.