Golf diplomacy signals new era for Australia, Malaysia

Golf diplomacy signals new era for Australia, Malaysia

M. Jegathesan, Agence France-Presse/Patrajaya, Malaysia

Malaysia and Australia signaled a new era in a tetchy
relationship on Thursday as their foreign ministers headed for
the golf course and Canberra invited Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi to visit.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer extended the
invitation at a meeting with his Malaysian counterpart Syed Hamid
Albar aimed at building ties strained under former premier
Mahathir Mohamad, who retired last October.

It has been 20 years since a Malaysian premier made an
official visit to Australia, when Mahathir met premier Bob Hawke
in Canberra in 1984. Paul Keating was the last Australian leader
to make an official trip to Malaysia, in January 1996.

The stakes for Australia go beyond bilateral relations, as
Mahathir led resistance to Canberra's attempts to play a role in
regional economic and political forums, dismissing the country as
the "deputy sheriff" of the United States and not truly Asian.

Downer told a joint news conference with Syed Hamid after
their talks: "It's good to be back here among friends and be
working on building our relationship."

Asked specifically whether the change in the Malaysian
leadership had made a difference, Downer replied: "I would not
want to comment on the internal workings of Malaysian politics.
We are working very successfully on building up the
relationship."

Syed Hamid answered a similar question by saying the new prime
minister "wants Malaysia to continue to have a very strong
relationship with Australia".

Fighting terrorism and boosting economic ties dominated their
45-minute talks, along with Iraq, the Palestinian issue and the
upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in
Laos in November.

Australia and New Zealand will take part in the summit for the
first time, against the background of discussions over a free
trade area involving all the countries.

Downer said the war on terrorism remained a major concern in
the region. "We certainly don't believe the game is over in terms
of dealing with Jamaah Islamiyah (the regional terror group) in
Indonesia," he said.

Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) was responsible for the Bali blasts in
2002 which killed 202 people, many of them Australian tourists.
Malaysia has detained without trial 75 men suspected of being JI
members.

Downer, who will visit the new Southeast Asian Regional Center
for Counter-Terrorism in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, praised the
Malaysian defense forces and police for their cooperation in
fighting terrorists.

"The overall performance has been strong," he said.

To enhance bilateral cooperation, the two foreign ministers
agreed to meet annually, alternating between Kuala Lumpur and
Canberra, and also to launch an annual "security dialog" at the
officials level.

On the controversial issue of the possible involvement of
United States marines in patrolling the Malacca Strait to protect
against terror attacks, Downer offered support to Malaysia's
position that security was the responsibility of the coastal
states.

"The focus has to be the role of the littoral states. Other
countries maybe able to provide advice or assistance," he said.

Malaysia has repeatedly rejected the idea of U.S. involvement
in the strait, a narrow waterway between Malaysia and Indonesia
which carries a third of the world's trade and half its oil
supplies, saying this would attract terrorist attacks rather than
prevent them.

Downer will not meet Abdullah, who is on a personal visit to
the United States, but will hold talks with his deputy, Najib
Razak, who is also defense minister, on Friday.

Before that, however, he was due to play a round of golf
together with Syed Hamid on Thursday afternoon.