[Kabar-indonesia] 6 Reports: Howard Demands RI Take Tougher Line on Bashir, Papua Rights

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

6 reports: 

- The Age: Howard Demands Tougher Line
  on Bashir and Papua Human Rights

- Australia, Indonesia Play Down Rift Ahead 
  Of Leaders' Meeting

- The Australian Editorial: Ending the Standoff
  [Today's summit is a chance to ease tensions 
  with Jakarta]

- The Australian/Opinion: Papua Requires 
  'Cool Heads'

- The Australian: Talks to Heal Rift

- The Age: PM optimistic on outlook

The Age (Melbourne)
Monday, June 26, 2006

Howard Demands Tougher Line

by Michelle Grattan

JOHN Howard will demand that Indonesia take tougher action against militant 
cleric Abu Bakar Bashir and canvass human rights in West Papua when he meets 
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono today.

After uncertainty about whether the Indonesians might cancel the talks, Mr 
Howard landed on the resort island of Batam in western Indonesia last night for 
the crucial meeting.

The talks will be a major test of the much vaunted personal rapport between 
the leaders and are crucial for restoring the relationship between the two 
countries, which was plunged into crisis when Australia gave protection to 42 
Papuan asylum seekers in March.

Bashir, the spiritual leader of the terrorist organisation Jemaah Islamiah, 
said yesterday he would seek permission to come to Australia to preach to the 
country's Muslims, saying it was his "duty and obligation".

In an interview at his base in Yogyakarta, he said many of Australia's 
Muslims were more devout than their Indonesian counterparts and had sought him out.

"I hope John Howard understands that I had nothing to do with the Bali 
bombing and that I knew nothing about it," he said. "It was just a misunderstanding. 
The courts are just making up stories. So I hope John Howard respects 
Indonesia's laws and doesn't intervene because that is not good and could cause a 
split."

Earlier, he thanked Dr Yudhoyono for letting him out of jail after serving 
two years and condemned Australia. "The infidels typically do not like Islam and 
the leaders but, praise the Lord, the Indonesian Government has done well 
handling this case."

Earlier this month, Mr Howard wrote to Dr Yudhoyono expressing Australia's 
deep distress at Bashir's release and called on the Indonesian Government to 
monitor his activities closely and act against him under a UN resolution that 
provides for terrorists to have their assets frozen and restrictions placed on 
their international travel.

Mr Howard was reluctant to spell out precisely what he wanted Dr Yudhoyono to 
do about Bashir, beyond referring to the letter he had written.

"Raising these matters is not only done to achieve a response, but it's also 
done to demonstrate the depth of concern in our own country about his 
involvement with the Bali attack," Mr Howard said. He insisted he was not making a 
rhetorical gesture.

Asked about Bashir's comment that Mr Howard should allow him to preach in 
Australia, the Prime Minister said: "I don't think he would find getting travel 
documents easy."

Mr Howard gave fresh reassurances to Indonesia that the Australian Government 
was totally against Papuan independ- ence. But his hopes of being able to 
reinforce Australia's message with tougher border security legislation to 
discourage asylum seekers were dashed last week when Coalition rebels forced the 
Government to defer the bill.

He said Australia did not support separatist or secessionist movements in 
Indonesia "and we have no wish to see Australia used in any way as a staging post 
for those movements".

There had never been any suggestion Australia supported Papuan separatism. 
"There are some people in Indonesia who think that, but it's not true and that's 
been our position for a long time and it will remain so."

The Prime Minister said the two countries would not sign the security pact 
today that is being negotiated between Australia and Indonesia, but the leaders 
are expected to say something its progress.

Labor foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said the countries' relationship 
should be "a two-way street" that took into account both countries' interests.

Mr Rudd said Mr Howard had to be absolutely clear on what should be done 
about Bashir.

He should ask Dr Yudhoyono to put Bashir under constant surveillance, to 
close the schools Bashir ran if there was anti-Western sentiment, and to ban 
Jemaah Islamiah. -- With THE WEST AUSTRALIAN

----------------------------------

Australia, Indonesia Play Down Rift Ahead Of Leaders' Meeting

BATAM, Indonesia, June 25 (AP)--Indonesia and Australia sought to play down 
rifts in their historically turbulent relationship ahead of talks Monday 
between the nation's leaders, but rankles remained over the recent release of an 
alleged terrorist leader. 

Australian Prime Minister John Howard arrived on the Indonesian island of 
Batam, near Singapore, amid tight security after reiterating that his government 
did not support independence for the restive Indonesian province of Papua. 

Canberra earned Jakarta's anger earlier this year when it granted asylum to 
42 Papuan refugees who had fled their province claiming persecution by the 
Indonesian military. 

Indonesia saw it as Australia's tacit endorsement of Papua's separatist 
movement and Howard's administration has subsequently struggled to repair the rift. 

Indonesia's foreign minister Sunday praised one such Australian effort to 
strengthen immigration laws. 

A proposed bill, which would see asylum seekers be sent to offshore 
processing facilities while their refugee claims are assessed, has yet to become law 
because of opposition from Australian lawmakers. 

Nevertheless, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda told reporters in Batam that 
Indonesia welcomed the move. 

Another sensitive issue likely to be on the agenda is the release from prison 
of militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, implicated in the 2002 terrorist 
bombings on the resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, including 88 
Australians. 

The release of Bashir after serving 26 months in prison for conspiring in the 
attacks led to widespread Australian outrage, and Howard has said he would 
convey this sentiment to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. 

Indonesian officials have said there is no need for the leaders to discuss 
Bashir, and some in Indonesia see it as an attempt by Canberra to dictate to 
Indonesia. 

"Abu Bakar Bashir is not on the agenda," said Wirajuda. "This is not any 
special matter. We have brought Abu Bakar Bashir to the court and the law says he 
should be freed." 

Canberra claims Bashir is a key regional terrorist, but Indonesian police and 
prosecutors have been unable to unearth evidence to convince judges of this. 

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, rejects criticism that it 
is soft on terrorism and points to the more than 150 militants it has locked 
up in recent years, three of whom have been sentenced death. 

Howard and Yudhoyono are also expected to discuss an Australia-Indonesia 
security agreement to replace one Jakarta tore up in 1999, after Australia 
intervened in East Timor's bloody split from Indonesia. 

Despite the lack of any formal agreement now, the two nations cooperate on 
policing, terrorism, illegal fishing and border protection. 

In the next few days, Howard will also travel to southern China's city of 
Shenzen where he will meet Premier Wen Jiabao and attend a ceremony marking the 
start of Australian natural gas shipments to China. 

-----------------------------------

The Australian
Monday, June 26, 2006

Editorial

Ending the Standoff

Today's summit is a chance to ease tensions with Jakarta 

AUSTRALIA'S fraught relations with Indonesia will be under the spotlight when 
John Howard sits down with President Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono at today's 
crucial talks on the island of Batam. At the top of the agenda of both leaders 
will be repairing a relationship soured by Indonesian rancour over Australia's 
grant of protection visas to Papuan asylum-seekers, and Australian displeasure 
at the early release this month of extremist cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. While 
there are many factors that bind Indonesia and Australia, the delicacy of the 
Prime Minister's task in helping to ease diplomatic relations back on track 
should not be underestimated. The constant backdrop to the fragile bond between the 
two nations is Jakarta's lack of trust in Canberra as a result of Australia's 
role in securing East Timorese independence. Indonesian Defence Minister 
Juwono Sudarsono let it be known earlier this month that Dr Sudhoyono felt 
"personally betrayed" by Australia's grant of visas to 42 of the 43 asylum-seekers in 
March, particularly after his guarantee they would not be harmed if sent 
home. Despite Canberra's assurances to the contrary, the Indonesian President 
claimed that in granting protection to the Papuans, Australia was signalling tacit 
support for the easternmost province's separatist movement, OPM. Today he 
will be pressing Mr Howard for - and is likely to receive - a specific statement 
of support for Indonesia's territorial sovereignty over West Papua. As the 
strife threatening East Timor demonstrates, there is no advantage for Australia 
in further instability on our doorstep.

The Prime Minister had planned to go to the meeting armed with tough new 
border protection laws to appease Jakarta's ire over the Papuan issue. The 
legislation aims to ensure all asylum-seekers who arrive by boat are detained and 
processed offshore. But a Coalition backbench revolt over the new provisions has 
left the laws in abeyance, with negotiations expected to continue over the 
parliament's winter recess. Rather than a negative, The Australian believes Mr 
Howard's failure to fast-track his legislation is a positive for Australia. For 
one thing it ensures the Prime Minister attends today's summit on his own 
terms. Instead of trading off Australian sovereignty to appease Indonesia, Mr 
Howard will now be able to point to a key reality of Australian political life: 
that deciding who comes to these shores is a matter for Canberra and not open to 
dictation by other nations. As Labor leader Kim Beazley has observed, Mr 
Howard must explain, not change, Australia's migration policy. 

Spitting the dummy in March, Dr Sudhoyono withdrew his ambassador to 
Canberra, Hamzah Thayeb, and threatened to cease Indonesian co-operation with 
Australia on preventing people-smuggling. The diplomatic chill began to thaw following 
the earthquake that devastated the region surrounding the Javanese city of 
Yogyakarta last month, killing thousands and leaving hundreds of thousands 
homeless. Australia's immediate response in direct aid and logistical backup 
brought the friendship between the nations back into focus, and saw Mr Thayeb's 
return to Canberra. Bashir's June 14 release just 26 months after his conviction 
for conspiracy over the October 2002 Bali terrorist bombings set tensions back 
a notch. Mr Howard must make clear to Dr Yudhoyono Indonesia's obligation to 
place severe restrictions on Bashir - declared a terrorist by the UN - and to 
monitor his movements closely. Also high on his agenda for discussion will be 
the proposed regional agreement between the two countries, the first since 
Jakarta in 1999 jettisoned the security pact forged in secret between former prime 
minister Paul Keating and Indonesian president Suharto over East Timor. 
Originally envisaged as a new version of the dumped pact, encompassing 
people-smuggling, counter-terrorism, fish poaching and military co-operation, Canberra and 
Jakarta have in recent days been lowering expectations this can be achieved 
at this stage. For now it's one step at a time, but Mr Howard must approach the 
relationship with Australian, not Indonesian, national interests and law at 
the top of his thinking.

-----------------------------------

The Australian
Monday, June 26, 2006

Papua Requires 'Cool Heads'

Patrick Walters, National security editor 

PAPUA remains the main stumbling block to better relations between Australian 
and Indonesia, with Jakarta still deeply suspicious of Canberra's bona fides.
Wiryono Sastrohandoyo, Jakarta's most senior diplomat and a former ambassador 
to Canberra, said Indonesia wanted a clear assurance of support for its 
sovereignty over Papua, and on the treatment of asylum-seekers, from today's 
meeting between John Howard and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. 

"I think there is a lack of communication between the two governments," Mr 
Wiryono told The Australian yesterday. 

"That is regrettable because of the way we have worked together on terrorism, 
money-laundering and other things. 

"The heart-to-heart communication between Australia and Indonesia has always 
been problematic in my experience. What we need is cool heads. I don't see on 
my side management that reflects that kind of thinking." 

Mr Wiryono, one of the key architects of the Aceh peace settlement, said 
bilateral ties had become "a bit unmanageable" because Indonesia remained very 
sensitive about Papua. 

"We are oversensitive and Australians are seen as being over-intrusive. 
Communication is very complex." 

On the Indonesian side, the Papua problem had generated strong emotions. 

"They see everything through the prism of East Timor and wonder if Australia 
is again going to be doing the same thing," he said. "On the other side, you 
have your own politics as well. It is very complex now and I don't know whether 
(the talks on the island of) Batam will resolve all that." 

Mr Wiryono said he understood the decision to go ahead with the leaders' 
meeting in Batam had been taken only late on Friday, amid continuing differences 
between key government agencies in Jakarta about how best to handle ties with 
Australia. 

Relations were severely strained in March following the decision to grant 
protection visas to 42 Papuan asylum-seekers. 

Mr Wiryono said he did not see a strong personality in "my government and 
also in your government that is championing the relationship". 

He said the recent return of Indonesia's ambassador to Canberra, Hamzah 
Thayeb, was a positive sign but Papua would remain a long-term problem. 

"The sooner we can resolve the Papuan problem - like the Aceh problem - the 
better. Because what we need is internal stability and national peace. 

"We are being troubled all the time in our way of thinking by outsiders who 
are encouraging Papuans to do this or that." 

Indonesians also had problems with the terminology of Australia's "temporary 
protection visa" system. 

"The sense here is that when you are talking about the temporary protection 
visa, the word protection is a very negative one because (we think) 'protection 
from what?'."

-----------------------------------

The Australian
Monday, June 26, 2006

Indonesia Talks to Heal Rift

Dennis Shanahan in Batam 

AUSTRALIA and Indonesia are expected to take a giant leap forward in 
restoring relations today with a statement of common principles and an accelerated 
timetable for the signing of a defence pact.
But as John Howard set out the topics to be discussed today with President 
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, it emerged last night that Jakarta decided to go ahead 
with the talks only on Friday. 

The Prime Minister will meet Dr Yudhoyono, on the Indonesian island of Batam, 
for the first time since relations hit a seven-year low when Australia 
granted asylum to 42 Papuan boatpeople in March. 

Relations were strained again when Liberal senators and MPs headed off 
amendments to the immigration detention system, which had been intended to pacify 
Indonesia over Papuans seeking refuge in Australia. 

Tensions increased further with the early release from prison of Abu Bakar 
Bashir, the spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiah terror group, which was 
responsible for the Bali bombings. 

Speaking before his departure for Batam yesterday, Mr Howard said the 
Australian-Indonesian relationship was "challenging" but "good", and he moved to ease 
Indonesian concerns about the Papua issue. "We don't support separatist or 
secessionist movements in Indonesia and we have no wish to see Australia used in 
any way as a staging post for those movements or activities," he said. 

"Our attitude towards Papua is very simple. We support Indonesian sovereignty 
over Papua, we always have since the 1960s." 

The federal Government hopes there will be an agreement on the common 
principles shared by Australia and Indonesia, with specific reference to terrorism, 
people-smuggling and aid following the 2004 tsunami and the recent earthquake 
in Yogyakarta. 

Some formal and blunt recognition of Indonesia's sovereignty over Papua is 
also expected. 

Mr Howard will raise the issue of the early release of Bashir with the 
Indonesian President, and give an account of what Australia believes is happening in 
the former Indonesian province of East Timor. 

It is possible progress will be made with a proposed security pact between 
Australia and Indonesia, but it will not be signed during the meeting. 

"The suggestion that a security pact would come out of these discussions is 
not one that came from me, or from the Australian side," Mr Howard said. 

Bashir attempted to inflame passions further yesterday by criticising 
Australia and thanking the Indonesian Government for his early release after serving 
time for terrorist offences. 

Mr Howard said he would be raising the cleric's treatment with the President. 

He wrote a terse note to Dr Yudhoyono after Bashir's release, which expressed 
the concern of the Australian Government and spoke of the public resentment 
over the issue. 

Labor foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said yesterday Mr Howard should 
ask Dr Yudhoyono for Bashir to be put under 24-hour surveillance, "and that if 
there is any outbreak of anti-Australian sentiment" in his schools they should 
be closed.

-----------------------------------

The Age (Melbourne)
Monday, June 26, 2006

PM optimistic on outlook

THE weather on the Indonesian resort island of Batam, setting for John 
Howard's meeting with Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was overcast yesterday -- an 
appropriate metaphor for Australian-Indonesian relations.

Circumstances have conspired to create maximum difficulties before the talks.

Radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir has again spoken out against "the infidels", 
including Australia, and praised Indonesian authorities for releasing him from 
prison.

This will reinforce Howard's message to Yudhoyono that more has to be done to 
control Bashir, putting on the spot the President, who has already pointed 
out that Bashir's freedom is the result of Indonesia's independent judicial 
system.

Howard wants to emphasise Australia is at one with Indonesia's desire to 
prevent growth of separatist pressures in Papua, but his message has been blunted 
by his failure to get in place his stronger border control legislation.

Much is riding on today's meeting at what the brochures describe as a 
"paradise of sandy, palm-fringed beaches".

The Indonesians have described the atmosphere for the Howard talks as 
"neutral". They kept the Australians on tenterhooks for days about whether they would 
scuttle them. Only late on Saturday was Howard able to issue a formal 
statement about the trip.

But both leaders have considerable incentive to put the best face on today's 
discussion, which will include consideration of progress towards a new 
security treaty. They pride themselves on getting on well, and the two countries have 
common interests they do not wish to endanger.

Howard enters the meeting both making a hardline demand (on Bashir) and 
giving a strong reassurance (on Australia's stand over Papua). If he doesn't get a 
positive response on Bashir, he will have set himself up for attacks by the 
Opposition, which was declaring yesterday that the robust bilateral relationship 
Howard claims to have with Yudhoyono should be made to deliver "when the 
rubber hits the road".

On Papua, Howard cannot guarantee that he can, in practical terms, toughen 
Australia's position. That will depend on his rebel backbenchers. His worst fear 
must be that another boat arrives and the legislation is still not passed.

A journalist asked Howard yesterday whether he thought things would be "a bit 
frosty" in Batam. "It's always pretty balmy," he replied, "balmy to very 
warm."

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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