RI embassy in Canberra bugged: House members

Kurniawan Hari and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Relations between Indonesia and Australia have been put to another test after the House of Representatives accused Australia of bugging the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra.

House legislators raised their concerns following a closed- door meeting with State Code Institute (LSN) chairman Maj. Gen. Nachrowi Ramli in Jakarta.

Legislator Djoko Susilo said a delegation of House members who recently visited Canberra found microphones attached to alarm systems at the embassy and at the Ambassador's official residence.

The devices were installed by the Australian Federal Police as part of Canberra's decision to increase security measures at the Indonesian embassy following the Bali bombing in October 2002, which killed 202 people, mostly Australians.

"There was a microphone inside the alarm in the meeting room of the embassy. That is an act of bugging," Djoko of the National Mandate Party said.

Fellow legislator Paulus Widiyanto, of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, said a similar device was installed at the official residence of the Indonesian ambassador.

"I checked it last month and asked the LSN to neutralize the device," he added.

While the government has taken steps to mend ties with Australia following its stance over East Timor's partition from Indonesia in 1999, House legislators have yet to bury the hatchet.

Nachrowi confirmed his officials had found bugging devices installed by the Australian government at the Indonesian embassy.

"I have enough data to prove Australia has conducted an act of bugging. Some diplomats have wondered why every time they held a meeting, the Australian foreign ministry knew it immediately. The devices are there," Nachrowi said after the meeting.

He had called on state officials to raise security awareness in their respective offices to avoid being tapped, he said.

But a spokesman for the Indonesian foreign ministry, Marty Natalegawa, dismissed the possibility of bugging.

The government understood the concerns of the House legislators and had sent a team to investigate the accusations.

"Security in our communications system is a paramount issue but in both cases there has been a thorough probe and the results were acceptable," Marty told the Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

The Australian authorities had introduced a new security system for the Indonesian embassy in Canberra following the Bali blasts, he said.

"Due to the heightened security concerns, the Australia introduced a new alarm system that connects the embassy with the local police. But (the alarms) are for security matters only," he said.

The alarms were installed with the consent of the Indonesian embassy and went into embassies of several other countries.

Indonesian embassy communications had been intercepted, Marty said, but this was because of a technical problem, not buggings.

The communication frequency used by the Indonesian embassy had overlapped with a signal from a local private television station, which had created interference.

"We have dealt with the problem and fixed it," he said.