Australian govt looks for acceptable envoy to Jakarta

Australian govt looks for acceptable envoy to Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): The Australian government is considering new
candidates to head its embassy in Indonesia after its favorite
nominee, senior diplomat Miles Kupa, was forced to withdraw
because of potential diplomatic tension with Jakarta.

A source in Jakarta said two senior diplomats and two former
senior military officers are now being considered by Australian
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.

Canberra's announcement on Friday that it was withdrawing Kupa
came only a few hours after Indonesia's Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Ali Alatas, in Jakarta questioned whether Australia
would be better off reconsidering its nomination.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has welcomed Canberra's
decision to withdraw Kupa's nomination.

"We feel that in a situation like this, the decision taken by
the Australian government is the right one," ministry chief
spokesman Ghaffar Fadyl told Antara.

When Kupa's nomination became apparent last week, Australian
media quickly announced he had written a confidential report,
which criticized President Soeharto, at the end of his term as
deputy ambassador to Indonesia in 1988. The report, entitled The
Little Big Man, was leaked to the Australian media in 1992.

The source in Jakarta said that Geoff Miller, who is now high
commissioner to New Zealand, may replace Kupa. He is a career
diplomat whose experience includes ambassador to South Korea and
Director General of the Office of National Assessments. He served
the Australian embassy in Jakarta in the early 1960s as a
political counselor. His name was mentioned when Canberra was
considering Kupa.

Other possible candidates include Kevin Hogue who is now
ambassador to Thailand. He was a deputy mission chief in Jakarta
in the 1970s. Gen. (ret.) Peter Gration who is a former
Australian Defense Force (ADF) commander and was responsible for
negotiating the 1995 security cooperation agreement with
Indonesia. And Admiral (ret.) Beaumont who is a former ADF
commander with extensive contacts among senior Indonesian
military commanders. He is known for his diplomacy.

The source said that Ambassador Allan Taylor, who was
scheduled to end his Jakarta assignment in June, may have to stay
until early August to prepare for Australian Prime Minister John
Howard's visit if Canberra fails to name a successor in time.

In Canberra on Saturday, Foreign Minister Downer was
criticized by the Australian media for his handling of the Kupa
affair.

Greg Sheridan, foreign editor of the Weekend Australian,
described it as "another poorly handled episode from what is
becoming an accident-prone foreign minister."

The newspaper reported that Downer was not told about the 1992
leak when he nominated Kupa for the position. Kupa told Downer he
was sorry that the Minister was uninformed.

Australian media drew an analogy to the way Indonesia was
forced to withdraw its nomination of Lt. Gen. (ret.) H.B.L.
Mantiri as ambassador to Australia in July last year.

Although Canberra had accepted Mantiri's nomination, Jakarta
dropped it after Australian media publicized the general's 1992
press interview in which he had described the military's handling
of a 1991 bloody incident in East Timor as "quite proper."

Mantiri's place was eventually filled by senior diplomat
Wirjono Sastrohandojo. (emb)