Indonesia and Australia start patching up strained ties

Indonesia and Australia start patching up strained ties

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and Australia began patching up their
tattered relationship on Monday, but officials here admitted it
would take time before ties between the two countries again
reached intimacy.

President Abdurrahman Wahid told visiting Australian Minister
of Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer here on Monday that Jakarta
was committed to restoring ties, but more time was needed to heal
the wounds of the diplomatic row.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab, who accompanied the
President during the meeting with Downer, quoted the President as
saying that both sides should learn from their past mistakes.

"We're trying to relieve the pain. It will take time, but the
most important thing is we have the spirit of reconciliation,"
Alwi said after the meeting at Bina Graha presidential office.

But Alwi had no qualms in placing the lion's share of the
blame for the soured ties on Australia.

"It takes time to repair the relationship, which has been
damaged during the past few months by official statements from
Australia," he told journalists.

Separately Downer described his 45-minute meeting with
Abdurrahman as fruitful.

He expressed optimism that close ties could be restored, as
sides recognize the common range of interests between them.

"We have been through a difficult period. We want now to look
to the future and rebuild the relationship in a constructive
way," said Downer, who became the first top Australian official
to meet with Abdurrahman since his election in October.

Jakarta and Canberra, particularly during the tenure of former
prime minister Paul Keating, previously enjoyed a very warm
relationship.

However, ties quickly deteriorated over the situation in East
Timor.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard sent a letter to then
president B.J. Habibie in December 1998 informing him of
Canberra's change of policy concerning East Timor. According to
officials at the time, the letter infuriated Habibie.

Australia then enraged many Indonesians by taking what was
seen as an overzealous approach in its support of independence
for East Timor, and its desire to lead a multinational force to
the former Indonesian province.

After his election, Abdurrahman brushed Canberra aside, saying
he did not want to visit Australia until its leaders stopped
being childish.

The President was particularly displeased by accusations that
Indonesia was being used as a transit point for illegal aliens
entering Australia.

Downer on Monday seemed to focus on the future rather than
the past. "Our two countries had different views at that time and
things happened ... There is not much point getting into a debate
about the history of it now."

On a possible visit by Abdurrahman to Australia, Alwi said the
President would at some point go there. "I have many friends
there," Alwi quoted the President as telling Downer.

Discussing Jakarta's efforts to avoid an international
tribunal on alleged human rights abuses in East Timor following
the Aug. 30 ballot, Downer indicated Australia's support for
Indonesia's internal investigation if it truly served justice.

"We would look first to Indonesia's domestic process to run
and ensure that those responsible for violence and abuses of
human rights be brought to justice," he said, adding that Jakarta
so far had shown its seriousness in investigating rights
violations. (prb)