Canberra, Jakarta to rebuild defense ties

Canberra, Jakarta to rebuild defense ties

Visiting Australian Defense Minister Robert Hill said on
Wednesday that Australia was sounding out possibilities to
rebuild military ties with Indonesia, with possible near-term
cooperation on efforts to combat international terrorism.

"We are looking for an opportunity to a possible training or
intelligence information exchange related to international
terrorism, and ... we plan to make such a memorandum of
understanding that will be signed between two countries over the
issue," Hill told a joint press conference with the Indonesian
Military (TNI) chief Adm. Widodo AS at the TNI headquarters in
Cilangkap, East Jakarta.

Asked whether Australia was worried about the potential threat
of hardline Indonesian groups, Hill said: "We are worried about
the extent of potential terrorism within the region."

Hill also said that Canberra would cooperate with Indonesia on
tackling people-smuggling and international crime.

"The view of both countries is that there's no need to move
too fast. We've got to understand each other's perspective, build
confidence in each other and develop defense relations," Hill
said.

Hill spoke to reporters at the start of a two-day visit to
Indonesia to meet his counterpart and other senior military
officials.

Ties between the two countries hit rock bottom in 1999 when
Australia headed the international peacekeeping force for East
Timor, following the overwhelming result of a UN-sponsored
independence referendum that led to East Timor's breakaway from
Indonesia.

The relationship has improved since then but remains fragile.
More recently, the issue of asylum seekers has sparked new
tensions.

Australia is keen to stem the people-smuggling trade, which
uses Indonesia as a transit base. Thousands of asylum seekers
from Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan transit through the country
each year on their journey to Australia. -- JP