Australia will seek to encourage Indonesian military's openness
Australia will seek to encourage Indonesian military's openness
SURABAYA (Agencies): Australia will encourage the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) to develop a new relationship with the people, Australian Defense Minister John Moore said on Friday.
"Australia's policies are directed toward enhancing ABRI's openness with new concepts of civil-military relations," Moore said in Surabaya, East Java, after meeting his Indonesian counterpart Gen. Wiranto, an Australian embassy release said.
Moore said he believed ABRI remained, and would continue to be, a key institution within the framework of the government.
However, he recognized that "ABRI is currently undergoing a significant re-evaluation of its role in national life."
Moore said the heads of the Indonesian and Australian armed forces would next year hold a conference aimed at exploring the theme of "Roles and Responsibilities of the Military in the 21st Century."
He said that for Canberra, Indonesia remained its most important strategic partner in Southeast Asia.
"It is our closest Southeast Asian neighbor and its size and population mean it has a significant role in the Asia-Pacific region as a whole," said Moore who arrived late on Thursday.
He said the defense relationship between the two countries was mutually beneficial, and pledged Australia's commitment to providing assistance "to help ABRI become a modern, disciplined and professional defense force."
Moore, making his first overseas trip as defense minister, is due to meet Indonesian President B.J. Habibie in Jakarta on Saturday.
During the meeting with Wiranto, Moore also raised concerns about the Indonesian military activity in East Timor.
"We think that fewer troops in East Timor would be helpful," Moore said at a news conference.
On Thursday, Australia said Indonesia had granted it permission to send a military observer to East Timor to monitor the security situation there.
Australia's ambassador to Indonesia, John McCarthy, said a military attache from his embassy in Jakarta would travel to East Timor on Tuesday.
Moore said he had asked for permission for an Australian investigator to visit East Timor as part of a new inquiry into the deaths of six foreign journalists killed when Indonesian troops invaded East Timor in 1975.
Indonesia maintains the men, Australian, New Zealand and British citizens, were killed in crossfire during hostilities. (nur)