Howard says he'll meet new RI leader
Howard says he'll meet new RI leader
Agencies, Sydney, Australia
Australia's reelected Prime Minister John Howard said on Monday he planned to meet soon with Indonesian president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as he reappointed faithful supporter Alexander Downer as his foreign minister.
Speaking a day before Tuesday's second anniversary of the 2002 Bali bombings, Howard said he would urge Susilo to ensure extremists convicted of the attacks served their full sentences, following a series of controversial appeal decisions.
The meeting would be the first between the top national leaders since last month's Australian embassy bombing in Jakarta, carried out on the eve of elections in both countries.
That attack has been blamed on the same group as carried out the Bali attacks, the al-Qaeda affiliated regional terrorist group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI). The meeting is expected to take place next month.
"Obviously, when I talk to him I will be putting a view to him on behalf of the relatives of Australians who died in Bali that, fully consistent with the Indonesian justice system, Australians want to see sentences that have been handed down in relation to people responsible for murdering 88 Australians be carried out in full," Howard told reporters in Sydney.
He said he hoped to meet Susilo, a former general, during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Chile and would discuss cooperation between the two nations' police forces as part of strengthening their bilateral relationship.
On Oct. 12, 2002, militants killed 202 people in a series of bombings at nightclubs in the holiday island of Bali, long regarded by Australia as its own unofficial holiday paradise.
The dead included 88 Australians, the largest number ever killed in a terrorist attack.
Howard said he would stress the strong feelings of the victims' relatives and anger at suggestions the killers, who have admitted their involvement, might be released on legal technicalities.
Dozens of Australian victims and victims' relatives are expected in Bali on Tuesday, despite official government warnings against traveling to Indonesia.
Australian ambassador to Indonesia David Ritchie, who narrowly survived last month's embassy bombing, is expected to lead a simple wreath-laying ceremony at a new memorial on the site of the Sari Club and Paddy's Bar, the main targets of the 2002 bombings.
Downer saw off an electoral challenge from the father of one of the Bali bombing victims on Saturday to easily win his seat in South Australia state.
Howard said Downer wished to carry on as foreign minister, the post he has held since Howard was first elected in 1996, when the new front bench is announced next week.
"Alexander Downer is an excellent foreign minister and he wants to continue and he will," Howard said.
He added that although Australia's commitment to keep troops in Iraq would remain, he did not expect any increase in the number of troops.