http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,20720324,00.html
Print this page Security pact with Jakarta agreed Patrick Walters, National security editor 08nov06 AUSTRALIA and Indonesia have agreed to a new broad-ranging security treaty, seven years after Jakarta tore up a previous agreement secretly negotiated by president Suharto and Paul Keating. Under the terms of the new pact, Jakarta and Canberra have pledged not to support separatist causes in each other's country. This was a key demand made by Jakarta in the wake of the crisis generated by the granting of temporary protection visas to 43 Papuan asylum-seekers earlier this year after they landed on Cape York. The two countries have also agreed to "do everything possible, individually and jointly, to eradicate international terrorism and extremism", including rapid, practical and effective responses to terrorist attacks. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and his Indonesian counterpart, Hassan Wirajuda, will sign the new pact on the Indonesian island of Lombok on Monday after nearly two years of discussions and negotiations. "It's a very significant step forward in the bilateral relationship," Mr Downer told The Australian last night. "It is a sensible agreement, a realistic agreement and it is a sustainable agreement. The Australian public think it is important we have a good relationship with Indonesia and we should look for ways of strengthening that." Mr Downer said the 1995 Suharto-Keating agreement had not been subject to any public debate and had not proved to be a sustainable document. "We do not need to have a security agreement with Indonesia so both of us will fight off the Ruritanians. That's not what the relationship is about," he said. "It is all about working together on the threats that we have to deal with, which are different types of threats. "We don't think the Chinese honestly are going to launch an attack on us." The Framework for Security Co-operation is a far more detailed document than the four-clause agreement signed in 1995. Article 2 of the document commits the signatories to "not in any manner support or participate in activities by any person or entity which constitutes a threat to the stability, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of the other party", consistent with their respective domestic laws and international obligations. This includes those who use the countries' territory for "encouraging or committing such activities, including separatism, in the territory of the other party". The effect of Article 2 will be unambiguously to rule out support by a future Australian government for groups such as the Free Papua Movement seeking independence from Indonesia. The treaty has a sharp focus on counter-terrorism and trans-national crime, with both countries pledging to work together to "respond to these new challenges and threats". The seven-page agreement contains 10 formal articles spelling out the forms of co-operation between two "democratic, dynamic and outward-looking members of the region and the international community". It covers bilateral co-operation in 10 key areas, including defence, law enforcement, counter-terrorism, intelligence sharing, maritime and aviation security, weapons of mass destruction proliferation, emergency relief and people-to-people links. Indonesian and Australian officials negotiated several drafts of the treaty, with the two governments agreeing on a final text last month. The two countries will consult on defence and security issues of common concern and on their respective defence policies, recognising the mutual benefit of the "closest possible professional co-operation between their defence forces". The treaty says the parties shall refrain from the "threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of the other, in accordance with the UN Charter." The document covers both traditional security co-operation as well as steps to combat trans-national crime issues including people-smuggling, corruption, illegal fishing, drug trafficking and money laundering. Indonesia's leadership was scrambling yesterday to prepare for Mr Downer's visit, which appeared to have taken the Foreign Ministry and even the President by surprise. Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda paid an urgent, unscheduled visit to the presidential palace late in the afternoon to confirm details of the visit with Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. His visit followed meetings of senior foreign ministry staffers, several of whom later confirmed the security agreement signing was the object of Mr Downer's visit. In a separate development, 35 Vietnamese boatpeople have been found in the Indonesian portion of Borneo, saying they were on their way to Australia. They were found stranded in the Ketapang Regency in West Kalimantan Province on October 30 after drifting for a month when their engine failed. Mr Downer first broached the idea of a new security agreement in late 2004 and won the support of new Indonesian leader DrYudhoyono. The 1995 treaty, never accepted by Indonesia's political elite, dissolved in mutual acrimony in 1999 in the wake of the Australian-led Interfet military intervention to the then Indonesian province of East Timor. The Indonesian military has been opposed to any revitalisation of the spirit of the 1995 agreement, with some senior officers still bitter about Australia's role in securing the independence of East Timor. Article 2 of the 1995 agreement bound both countries to consult each other in the case of adverse challenges to either party or to their common security interests. Indonesia, a leader of the Non-aligned Movement, has traditionally avoided bilateral security treaties - a sensitivity that the"framework agreement" attempts to address. The treaty will require the ratification of the Indonesian and Australian parliaments. Additional reporting: Stephen Fitzpatrick [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! 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