RI, Malaysia cool off, talks to start soon

RI, Malaysia cool off, talks to start soon

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Indonesia and Malaysia pledged on Friday to use all means
possible to defuse tensions, including some "adjustments" to
prevent armed conflict, and have agreed on talks to end the
border dispute over the Ambalat offshore oil field in the
Sulawesi Sea.

"All parties will control their respective environments in a
bid to ease tensions. The President will communicate with the
Cabinet, and vice versa," Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan
Wirajuda told a joint press conference along with his Malaysian
counterpart Syed Hamid Albar, after a meeting with President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday.

Albar said that neither Indonesia nor Malaysia had any
intention of using force.

"Malaysia and Indonesia will be forsaken by God if we think to
threaten one another with troops. Our approach is cooperation,
not military. (Armed conflict) will never happen, God willing,"
he said.

Albar denied accusations that Malaysia's plan to buy military
equipment from Britain was connected to the dispute that has
simmered over the past week.

The dispute heightened after Kuala Lumpur decided to award oil
exploration rights in a maritime area also claimed by Indonesia.

Hassan said that Indonesia also had been trying its best to
prevent possible military incidents that could increase tensions,
adding that Indonesia is determined to normalize ties with its
neighbor.

Indonesia plans to make some "adjustments" to the deployment
of warships in the disputed oil block, he said.

"Should there be several Malaysian or Indonesian ships (in the
area), then they must be considered to be just routine patrols,"
the minister added.

Warships from both countries had come into close contact in
the disputed waters on several occasions since Feb. 16, after
Malaysia's Petronas awarded Dutch energy giant Shell an oil
concession in the Ambalat block.

"The President has communicated with the Indonesian Military
(TNI). He even visited the area to ensure that troops obeyed the
rules of engagement," Hassan said.

During his recent visit to Sebatik island near Ambalat, Susilo
ordered TNI personnel not to activate warship radars, so "there
would be no impression of an emergency situation that may give
wrong signals", Hassan said.

"We'll try to put things back to the way they used to be
before the tension," he said.

During talks with the President, Albar said that both
countries' leaders had agreed to improve communications to ease
tension.

"The President shall stay in contact with the Prime Minister
(Abdullah Ahmad Badawi), myself with Pak Hassan, and military
chiefs between themselves. This will be the wisest solution,"
Albar said.

They jointly agreed not to talk through the media about the
substance of planned negotiations scheduled to take place over
two days from March 22.

"We do not want to debate through the media; we'll leave
(negotiations) to the technical team," Albar said, reiterating
Malaysia's complaints that the Indonesian media had overreacted
to the situation and had whipped up emotions resulting in anti-
Malaysian demonstrations in Jakarta.

The dispute is one of the biggest tests of the Indonesia-
Malaysia bilateral relationship since the 1960s, when former
president Sukarno declared "confrontation" with Malaysia over the
latter's control over northern areas of the island of Borneo,
that are now the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak.

The Ambalat oil field is situated near the islands of Sipadan
and Ligitan that had been in dispute for years between Malaysia
and Indonesia. The International Court of Justice eventually
awarded Malaysia sovereignty over the islands in 2002. However,
Indonesia claims that Malaysia's maritime territory extends only
19 kilometers (12 miles) from the islands.