Singapore says ties with RI still strong

Singapore says ties with RI still strong

Associated Press, Nusa Dua, Bali

Singapore's foreign minister on Wednesday pledged to work with
Jakarta to maintain "excellent relations" despite recent public
anger surrounding comments by the city-state's elder statesman
that terrorist leaders roamed free in Indonesia.

Minister S. Jayakumar reiterated an invitation for Indonesian
security officials to visit the island republic and question 13
suspected members of a Southeast Asian religious group, Jemaah
Islamiyah, who were arrested in Singapore in December.

"I think the way forward now is for the professionals in the
security agencies of both sides to get together," Jayakumar told
reporters during a break in an international conference on human
trafficking. "We look forward to the Indonesian officials coming
to Singapore."

Jayakumar said he had discussed the matter with his Indonesian
counterpart, Hassan Wirayuda, during a recent meeting in Phuket,
Thailand.

"We will, as foreign ministers, manage the situation, bearing
in mind the long-term importance of excellent relations,"
Jayakumar said.

The minister's remarks came after two days of demonstrations
at the gates of the Singaporean embassy in Jakarta to protest
Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's comments that terrorist leaders
remain at large in Indonesia.

Dozens of suspected militants detained recently in Malaysia
and Singapore are thought to have ties to an Indonesia-based
Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir. He is the alleged leader of a
Southeast Asian Muslim group, Jemaah Islamiyah, which has been
linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization.