Cabinet rules out breaking diplomatic ties with Australia

JAKARTA (JP): The government ruled out on Wednesday the possibility of severing diplomatic ties with Australia, despite the tense relationship between the two countries and the perceived inappropriate behavior of the Australia-led International Force For East Timor (Interfet).

Prior to attending a Cabinet meeting at Bina Graha presidential office, Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Gen. (ret) Feisal Tanjung said Interfet's offenses were tolerable and that there was no need to freeze diplomatic ties with Australia.

"Oh, it is too far, too far," he replied when asked about the calls to cut ties with Australia.

Feisal said the Indonesian government had sent a letter of complaint to Australia over an alleged territorial offense committed by its Interfet troops.

Feisal said the government had also lodged a protest with Australia concerning the "inappropriate and unfair" approach of Interfet troops.

"We hope the United Nations will study our complaints," he said.

An Interfet helicopter reportedly entered Indonesian territory over the weekend and attempted to land on Kisar Island, Maluku, after pursuing pro-Jakarta militias fleeing East Timor.

Australian defense minister John Moore earlier said the UN mandate allowed peacekeepers to chase militias across the border into the Indonesian territory.

Feisal said that residents of the island had prevented the Black Hawk chopper from landing.

In his account last month to the House of Representatives concerning the government policy toward East Timor, President B.J. Habibie deplored Australia's reaction to the East Timor issue. However, he also reiterated the importance of good relations between the two countries.

The government earlier canceled a landmark 1995 security cooperation agreement with Australia, after saying its neighbor's attitude had undermined bilateral relations.

Meanwhile, a law expert said on Wednesday that the Indonesian government must prove to the UN and the international community whether the Indonesian Military (TNI) committed atrocities in East Timor, a charge frequently discussed in the foreign media.

"We have to find out the truth about such allegations in East Timor. But at the same time, Indonesia must also undertake a probe into Interfet's (alleged atrocities)," said Loebby Loqman of the University of Indonesia's school of law.

"So far only the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad has protested against Interfet's alleged wrongdoings."

The law expert said that following on from Mahathir's argument, Indonesia should also be able to charge Interfet with the war criminal tag. "This is important so the world doesn't just blame it all on us. Such allegations must first be proven," Loebby said.

"We have to fight and not let the world dictate to us and blame us all the time," he said after a discussion in Semarang.

Meanwhile, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Benjamin Mangkoedilaga said Indonesia could not ignore international calls to uncover human right violations in East Timor.

"That is why Komnas HAM has sent a fact-finding team to East Timor. So whatever the results, we have to continue taking legal measures in handling this matter," Benjamin said.

He said that in line with Law No. 39/1999 on human rights, Komnas HAM and the Ministry of Justice were working to establish a human rights court in Jakarta.

"This is to prevent our people from being dragged off to an international court. If we can handle the matter within a national human rights court, things would be easier. The only problem is that we are racing against time," Benjamin said. (har/edt/prb)