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.