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)