Keating to meet Soeharto in Bali over APEC, ties

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto and Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating are scheduled to meet in Bali tomorrow, against a backdrop of strained relations between Indonesia and its southern neighbor.

Political observers said yesterday that the mere fact that the meeting is taking place should, in itself, go a long way towards healing the injured ties.

They pointed out that, as ties began to deteriorate in July, when Indonesia decided to withdraw its ambassadorial candidate to Canberra, there was always a sense of optimism that the fallout from the wrangle would be limited, given the close bond between the two leaders.

"The friendship between Soeharto and Keating, as we can see from the past, has always been very good," commented legislator Krissantono.

Political analyst Kusnanto Anggoro of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies said that the strong bond between the two leaders is a safety-net, preventing the emergence of irreconcilable differences between the two countries.

Though Indonesian-Australian ties have been marked by peaks and troughs, the ascendance of Keating to the prime ministership in 1991 has been followed a steady warming of relations.

Keating has often stated that "no other country is more important to Australia than Indonesia." He has backed his comments up with four visits to Indonesia since he became prime minister.

Officials here and in Australia have said that the summit will focus on the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, of which both countries are active members, while bilateral issues will also be discussed.

"I do not know exactly what the talks will cover, but APEC will be central," said Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas yesterday. He added that any issue of common bilateral interest could also be brought up.

Central on the watch-list of many observers will be the question of Indonesia's ambassador to Australia.

Indonesia withdrew the nomination of H.B.L. Mantiri, a retired Army lieutenant general, after his appointment caused controversy in Australia.

Although Canberra officially accepted the Mantiri's nomination, there was a major uproar in Australia about Mantiri's appointment after newspapers there reported that the general had condoned the military's handling of a 1991 demonstration in East Timor in which more than 50 people were killed.

Jakarta rejected a demand by Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans that Mantiri apologize, withdrew Mantiri's nomination, and announced that the post of Indonesian ambassador to Australia would be vacated indefinitely.

While officials maintain that bilateral relations are good, the Mantiri issue has become a very obvious sore point for Indonesian officials, illustrated by Alatas' remark last night that "we haven't even thought of a candidate (to fill the vacant post) yet."

Kusnanto said he was interested to see how the two leaders would tackle the Mantiri issue which, he believes, is certain to come up during the meeting.

Another factor in the current dip in relations between Jakarta and Canberra is the flag-burning issue.

During the week in which Indonesia celebrated it's 50th anniversary of independence last month, no less than three Indonesian flags were burned during protests against the Indonesian government in Australia.

Indonesian youths retaliated by burning two Australian flags and attempting to scale the fence of the Australian embassy in Jakarta.

International relations expert Hilman Adil of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences said that past experiences should be used to forge new, realistic approaches to relations between the two countries. (mds)

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