Australian PM Howard praised at home for his coolness in Jakarta

Australian PM Howard praised at home for his coolness in Jakarta

Belinda Goldsmith, Reuters, Canberra

Australian Prime Minister John Howard was applauded at home on
Friday for keeping his cool during a visit to repair ties with
Indonesia despite taunts from Amien Rais and other
parliamentarians.

Amien, head of Indonesia's top assembly, canceled a meeting
with Howard at the 11th hour, stealing headlines by accusing
Australia of meddling in Jakarta's internal affairs -- but then
sat near Howard at a state dinner, exchanging pleasantries.

Howard, who is due home later on Friday, refused to let Amien
ruffle him, dismissing the snub as a domestic political gesture
by a known opponent of President Megawati Soekarnoputri that was
designed to curry favor with Indonesians critical of Australia.

Maintaining his calm, Howard pushed ahead with the visit and
left Jakarta with a pact signed by Megawati to combat regional
terrorism and promising to give Indonesia five patrol boats to
help in the battle against people smugglers.

Howard, spending his final day in Indonesia in the ancient
royal capital of Yogyakarta, said the visit was "worthwhile" but
he was realistic about the relationship.

"The mistake that has been made in the past in relation to
Indonesia is that people have elevated expectations out of the
relationship and those expectations are always doomed to be
disappointed," Howard told reporters on Friday.

Australian commentators hailed the visit a success in putting
the relationship back on track after six months of tension -- and
a feather in the cap for Howard who is usually criticized for his
awkwardness with foreign policy issues.

"Mr Howard, though not entirely blameless for past strains in
the relationship, deserves credit for what has already been
achieved by his visit," said an editorial in The Age newspaper.

"That is particularly so when one considers the diplomatic
indignities to which he was subjected in Jakarta."

Relations between neighbors Australia and Indonesia, the
world's most populous Muslim nation, have always been testy.

But they hit a low when Australia led an international peace
force into East Timor in 1999 after a vote for independence from
Jakarta turned violent. Some Indonesians accused Canberra of
interfering in domestic affairs.

With Megawati elected to power last July, Canberra hoped to
forget the past but a month later tensions flared between the
president and Howard when a Norwegian tanker rescued 433 asylum
seekers from an Indonesian boat and carried them to Australia.

Howard, facing a tight election and aware of resentment in
Australia to rising numbers of Middle Eastern and Afghan boat
people, took a controversial stand. He refused to allow them in.
Australia has turned away every boat with asylum seekers since.

But Jakarta also refused to take back the Afghan migrants who
paid people smugglers in Indonesia for passage to Australia.
Megawati would not return Howard's telephone calls and her
colleagues accused him of "megaphone diplomacy".

Howard's visit to Jakarta this week, the first since his
conservative government waltzed back into power last November,
aimed to wipe the slate clean again.

Howard, a diminutive politician whose determination is cited
as the key to his success, was not going to let a diplomatic snub
ruin a trip to heal wounds.

"He saved face in the end, however there is no room for
triumphalism," The Australian newspaper said in an editorial.

"Australia, like Indonesia, should take care to build on the
improvement in the relationship, rather than let if fall victim
once again to short-term domestic political agendas."