http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/jakarta-say-sorry-or-no-ambassador/2006/04/18/1145344085813.html
Jakarta: say sorry or no ambassador By Cynthia Banham and Phillip Coorey April 19, 2006 A POWERFUL Indonesian parliamentary commission is set to recommend that Indonesia's ambassador not return to Canberra until Australia apologises for the Papuan visa crisis. In response to John Howard's refusal yesterday to say sorry over the affair, a member of the foreign affairs and defence commission, Djoko Susilo, accused Australia of trying to "hurt the feelings of the Indonesian Government and the Indonesian people". Mr Susilo said the commission would urge the ambassador, Hamzah Thayeb, who was recalled to Indonesia three weeks ago, not to return "any time soon, until we get a satisfactory explanation from John Howard's Government or until after a formal apology for what happened". "Of course we will ask Mr Thayeb to remain in Jakarta for this moment," Mr Susilo said after a meeting with Mr Thayeb. The Federal Government's granting of asylum to 42 Papuan refugees has caused a serious diplomatic rift with Jakarta. Mr Howard said yesterday he was confident relations would be salvaged but he had no intention of saying sorry to help the process along, responding with a flat "no" when asked whether Australia had anything to be sorry about. Talking on Perth radio, Mr Howard implored Indonesia to respect Australia's legal processes and show commonsense. "I respect the sensitivity of Indonesia towards the Papuan issue," he said. "Equally, I ask Indonesia to accept that we have a procedure, we have a process according to our interpretation of law and we don't intend to bend or vary that because that's the code under which we live in this country. "This is a difficult issue, it's not an insurmountable problem. I'm sure we can work our way through it but it will take commonsense on both sides." Mr Howard said this Friday's visit to Jakarta by the head of the Foreign Affairs Department, Michael L'Estrange, would presage visits by the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, and himself. He dismissed complaints by Mr Susilo that Mr L'Estrange was not an emissary of sufficient calibre given the size of the dispute. However, a spokesman for the President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, denied there had been a further deterioration in the relationship, saying Dr Yudhoyono had noted with "great interest" Australia's decision to resurrect the Government's Pacific solution policy. "We look forward to having a very constructive relationship," Dino Djalal said. On Monday Dr Yudhoyono dismissed the policy, saying: "Don't insult us, don't toy with us and don't deny us justice." Mr Djalal said the President's comments reflected Indonesian sensitivities over Papua, "but we do see a possibility of movement". The acting Immigration Minister, Philip Ruddock, yesterday upbraided backbenchers for speaking out against the Pacific solution policy. "It's important that our relationship is not damaged, either in Indonesia or here, by statements from people who don't speak for the Government," Mr Ruddock said. [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/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
