Australia-RI ties 'remain strong'

Australia-RI ties 'remain strong'

Michelle Nichols, Reuters/Canberra

Australia's push for Indonesia to ban militant network Jamaah
Islamiyah (JI) and prevent further cuts to the jail term of the
group's spiritual leader will not affect warming ties between the
two neighbors, analysts said.

Extremists in the world's most populous Muslim nation have
targeted the Australian embassy in Jakarta and killed 94
Australians in three separate bomb attacks since 2002, yet
relations between Canberra and Jakarta have never been stronger.

Analysts do not expect a visit by Australian Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer this week will harm those close ties despite his
plans to urge Jakarta to ban JI and stop any further cuts to the
jail term of its spiritual leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.

"I think they are irritants in the relationship," Australian
National University political analyst Greg Fealy said on Monday.
"I don't think this is the kind of thing that will derail the
relationship. In some ways continuing counter-terrorism
cooperation has brought the two countries closer together -- it's
a sort of paradox."

Ba'asyir was jailed for 30 months for his role in the
nightclub bombings on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali that
killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, but his sentence was
cut by 135 days on Indonesia's Independence Day in August under a
remission program.

Australia is concerned his sentence could be reduced further
when prisoner remissions are granted to mark a religious holiday
in November, despite a pledge by Jakarta to review the scheme.

"The Indonesians have given a commitment to dealing with that
problem but that hasn't been implemented yet, so we will talk
about how they are getting on with that," Downer told reporters
on Monday.

Downer will visit Bali to commemorate the third anniversary of
the 2002 Bali bombings on Wednesday and then travel to Jakarta to
meet with Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirayuda, and possibly
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Jamaah Islamiyah, seen as the southeast Asian arm of Osama bin
Laden's al-Qaeda network, has been blamed for several bombings in
Indonesia, including an attack on the Australian embassy in
Jakarta in 2004 that killed 10 Indonesians.

Earlier this month coordinated suicide bombings in Bali
restaurants killed 23 people, including three suicide bombers,
and the police investigation is focusing on Jamaah Islamiyah.
Four Australian tourists were among those killed.

Deakin University political analyst Damien Kingsbury said
Downer was unlikely to push Indonesia too hard to ban Jamaah
Islamiyah "because he already knows the answer" will be no.

"He might say that he's obliged to put Australia's position,
but I don't think he will go at it hammer and tongs. Very often
these sorts of statements are not for international consumption,
they're for domestic consumption," Kingsbury said.

Australia has struggled to balance its close alliance with the
United States with its geographical location.

Australia's ties with Indonesia waned when it led a UN-
mandated intervention force into East Timor in 1999 to quell
violence after Timorese voted for independence from Jakarta.

But ties have improved since then as the two countries joined
forces to fight the war on terrorism, with Canberra's efforts
gaining momentum after Susilo became Indonesia's first directly
elected president in October 2004.

Canberra then rushed to the aid of its northern neighbor
following the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami and has also stepped
in to help Indonesia deal with a deadly outbreak of bird flu.

"Indonesia's certainly the most important member of ASEAN (the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations), so having a constructive
relationship with Indonesia certainly does assist Australia in
its regional relations," Kingsbury said.

"There is a view in Indonesia that Australia just needs to
pull its head in ... but there's no question Australia has lifted
its stocks in the eyes of a lot of ordinary Indonesians and
indeed amongst the government."