KL plays down incident between navy, RI police

KL plays down incident between navy, RI police

Associated Press, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia on Sunday played down an incident at sea that involved
its navy and Indonesian marine police and raised tensions between
the two countries.

On Wednesday, a Malaysian navy ship and helicopter prevented
Indonesian marine police from detaining three Malaysian trawlers
for allegedly fishing in Indonesian waters in the Malacca Strait,
which lies between parts of the two nations.

Jakarta accused the Malaysian navy of violating Indonesia's
territorial integrity. On Friday, it delivered a protest note to
Malaysia and demanded the extradition of the Malaysian officers
involved.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the navy was
"merely looking after the interest and safety of Malaysian
nationals," the national news agency Bernama reported.

Malaysian officials could not immediately be reached for
comment.

Syed Hamid said many fishermen enter other countries' waters
without knowing it in the narrow Malacca Strait.

"Sometimes, when they are caught for encroaching into foreign
territory, they are not aware that they are in foreign
territory," Bernama quoted him as saying.

"Anyway, we have received a protest note from the Indonesian
Foreign Ministry on the matter and we will respond according to
procedure," he said, without elaborating.

Tensions have been brewing between the two countries since
Malaysia awarded exploration rights for oil-producing areas in
the Sulawesi Sea near the disputed islands of Sipadan and Ligitan
earlier this year.

The International Court of Justice gave Malaysia sovereignty
over the islands in 2002. But Indonesia says Malaysia's sea
territory extends only 19 kilometers offshore, and does not
include the area where the oil blocks are located.