Keating to meet Soeharto in Bali over APEC, ties

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)

Editorial -- Page 4