Australia ready for food mission

Australia ready for food mission

SYDNEY (AFP): Australian officials flew to Seoul on Sunday for
talks with China, Japan and South Korea amid reports that
Canberra is readying its armed forces to mount a rescue mission
in Indonesia.

A defense department spokesman said a request from Jakarta for
help with massive food shortages was possible and it was
monitoring the flying hours of its Hercules transport aircraft,
sea-time of its ships and crew leave.

"We are thinking about it and we are providing for it by
keeping a sharp eye on our defense priorities," the senior
official told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Australia played a major part in the recent food airlift in
Irian Jaya.

The World Food Program is sending a team into Indonesian
villages to reassess the extent of the hunger following recent
increases in basic food prices, which have quadrupled since the
country's economic crisis began a year ago.

The International Labor Organization said last week more than
15,000 people were losing their jobs each day.

A spokesman for Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told AFP
there had been no indication that the situation in Indonesia had
significantly deteriorated in the past few weeks, but the issue
would be discussed at meetings in South Korea starting Tuesday.