Indonesian Embassy in Australia reopens

Indonesian Embassy in Australia reopens

Ivy Susanti and
Rendi A. Witular
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The Indonesian Embassy in Canberra resumed operations on Friday
afternoon after being closed for two days due to security
precautions, as another envelope of white powder was found at the
Australian parliament.

Foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said that the
embassy was reopened after the Australian Federal Police (AFP)
said that the powder sent in an envelope to Ambassador Imron
Cotan on Wednesday did not contain any substance that could
endanger human health or the environment.

Meanwhile, a suspicious package addressed to Australian
foreign minister Alexander Downer forced the closure of the
Australian parliament house loading dock on Friday. The packages
sent to Downer and the embassy both contained harmless white
powder and came amid an emotional backlash in Australia against
Indonesia's guilty verdict of Australian Schapelle Corby on drug
smuggling charges.

The Indonesian government assured the Australian community in
Indonesia that there would be no retaliatory measures following
the incident at its embassy in Canberra.

"There are no anti-Australian activities here in Indonesia
following the threat at our embassy in Australia. This is just a
small incident ... (the incident) must not lead us to conclude
that all Australians are against us," Vice President Jusuf Kalla
said on Friday.

Marty added that Indonesians would not react the same way as
Australians have over the incident, while giving credit to the
Australian government, who immediately condemned the incident and
began a quick investigation into the matter.

"The Indonesian public has been extremely measured and
extremely constructive in responding to the latest development,
and it may be a good lesson on how to respond to such a crisis --
in contrast to the way the Australian public has responded to the
Corby case," he said on Friday.

He said the government also hoped the incident would serve as
a warning to anybody who incited hatred and encouraged others to
perform such actions.

"Though we have yet to prove that this incident at the embassy
is related to Corby's case, we hope that the incident can alarm
Australians to be more prudent, because their concern could be
transformed into irresponsible acts," he said.

Marty said the embassy staff had received strong messages of
condolence from many Australians. "Let's see what will happen in
the future."

He added that the Indonesian embassy and consular offices in
Australia would purchase special devices to screen all the
letters addressed to the embassy.

Downer earlier said the embassy threat may have been a
backlash in Australia over the fate of Corby, who was sentenced a
week ago to 20 years in prison.

"As I have said this week in relation to the incident
involving the Indonesian Embassy, this type of intimidation is
deplorable," Downer said.

In a sign of the growing cooperation between Australia and
Indonesia, three Indonesian police officers arrived in Canberra
on Friday to help investigate the embassy package.

The AFP said they were now examining whether the security
threats this week were linked, or the work of copycats.

"We're always troubled by copycats," AFP Commissioner Mick
Keelty told reporters. "Certainly a second incident within a
couple of days, the obvious thing is that it may well be linked,
but we want to find that out by forensic examination."

Police said one person in the Australian parliament house's
mail room underwent decontamination as a precautionary measure
after coming into contact with the white powder in the package
addressed to Downer.

The underground loading dock and mail room was shut down and
the area cordoned off after the package was found early on
Friday. The loading dock is in a separate building to the actual
parliament, but is part of the parliamentary complex.

The parliament was not evacuated and Prime Minister John
Howard remained inside the building holding meetings.

In Tokyo for talks with the Japanese government, Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Australia and Indonesia
had both condemned the security scare and had managed the
incident well.

"I do hope this thing can be well managed by developing a
sense of cooperation between Indonesia and Australia," he was
quoted by Reuters as saying. He added that Indonesia needed to be
allowed to enforce its drug laws.