Soeharto still keen to visit Australia despite latest spat
Soeharto still keen to visit Australia despite latest spat
CANBERRA (Agencies): President Soeharto remains keen to visit
Australia despite the "temporary messiness" over withdrawal of a
controversial senior officer as ambassador designate, Indonesia's
outgoing envoy said yesterday.
Sabam Siagian denied reports here that Soeharto had shelved
plans to visit Australia following the withdrawal of the
president's preferred candidate for ambassador, Herman Mantiri,
because of an outcry over remarks the lieutenant general had made
on a 1991 incident in East Timor.
"In our case, any time he decides to come, he is willing, I am
sure, and I know he is keen to visit Australia. The question
should be rephrased: how does Australia feel welcoming President
Soeharto after this?" Siagian told the Nine TV Network.
Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating continues to have a
"special relationship" with Soeharto, he said.
Indonesia has been a focus of Keating's efforts to strengthen
Australia's links with the Asian region.
Siagian denied a suggestion that the Mantiri affair had
scuttled four years of diplomacy, saying bilateral relations had
"expanded and deepened in a very significant way."
"That expanded bilateral relationship can cope with the
temporary messiness" of the Mantiri incident, he added.
Mantiri's appointment caused a massive protest because of
comments he made in a 1992 interview about the East Timor bloody
incident, saying "we don't regret anything. What happened was
quite proper." He was head of the military command which includes
East Timor at the time.
On November 12, 1991 Indonesian troops clashed with thousands
of East Timorese mourners at Santa Cruz cemetery in the East
Timor's capital of Dili. The incident claimed the lives of 50
East Timorese people, according to official report.
Commentators here have criticized foreign minister Gareth
Evans for his handling of Mantiri's appointment, saying Evans
failed to put Australia's objections forcefully enough, leading
Indonesia to make a humiliating retreat.
Siagian noted the role that Evans -- a member of the upper
house senate -- had in domestic politics and said: "He copes with
too many problems ... has too much on his plate."
Indonesia has said it will leave the ambassador slot here
temporarily vacant.
That move is a protest against Canberra, according to the
leader of an influential Indonesian Islamic organization, the
Indonesian state news agency Antara reported Saturday.
"Indonesia wants to teach Australia that it cannot be
ridiculed easily over the so-called Mantiri issue," said Amien
Rais, chairman of Muhammadiyah.