Australia's defense ties with Indonesia solid: Moore

Australia's defense ties with Indonesia solid: Moore

CANBERRA (AP): Planned military exercises involving elite units of the Indonesian and Australian defense forces have been deferred, not abandoned, Australian Minister of Defense John Moore said on Thursday.

He said Indonesian budget cuts were behind a decision to delay two planned joint military exercises, not the bad human rights record of the Indonesian Army's Special Force (Kopassus) as reported in some Australian media.

Moore, who took over the defense post earlier this month after a national election, said Australia's defense relationship with Indonesia was unchanged.

The Australian newspaper reported on Thursday the exercises had been abandoned after a ministerial level decision in Australia.

The newspaper linked the decision to what it claimed were months of bad publicity over the poor human rights record of the elite Kopassus unit of Indonesia's Armed Forces (ABRI).

Moore said the decision was made by Australia's armed forces.

Adm. Chris Barrie, the chief of Australia's defense forces, had advised the government that planned exercises had been deferred by mutual agreement with the Indonesian government, Moore said.

Exercise Night Falcon, an Australian Special Air Services exercise, was scheduled to be held in Indonesia last May. Moore said the exercise was deferred due to the deteriorating political and economic situation in Indonesia at the time.

Exercise Kookaburra and Exercise Komodo, scheduled for November, have also been postponed to a date yet to be decided.

"I am advised that the exercises have been deferred in the light of the budget cuts imposed by the Indonesian government on ABRI training and by ABRI's priority requirement for the restructuring of Kopassus," Moore said.

"These are internal matters for the Indonesian government and its defense force."

He said the Indonesian government was also concerned about improving the "professional standards and accountability" of its Special Force.

Moore said it was expected training exercises involving Australian defense forces and Kopassus would resume once Indonesia's internal reform processes were completed.

Two former Kopassus commanders, including former president Soeharto's son-in-law Prabowo Subianto, have been discharged from ABRI over their role in the kidnapping and torturing of political activists.