ABC AUSTRALIA, Sunday, March 26, 2006. 10:46pm (AEDT)
Group calls on Indonesia to cut ties with Australia
A group linked to Indonesia's largest Islamic movement has called on the Indonesian
Government to temporarily cut ties with Australia if the Federal Government refuses to
revoke visas for Papuan asylum seekers.
The secretary-general of Ansor, the youth movement connected to Nahdlatul Ulama
(NU), has told reporters his organisation is calling on Australia to revoke visas granted
to 42 Papuans who arrived by boat in January seeking asylum.
"If it [Australia] remains adamant, the Government of Indonesia has to halt all
cooperative activities and temporarily severe diplomatic ties," Malik Haramain was
reported as saying by the Detikcom online news service.
Mr Haramain says Ansor will call for a boycott of Australian goods and services to
protest the granting of the visas and has requested a meeting with Australian
Ambassador to Indonesia, Bill Farmer, to press its point.
Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, a hardline Indonesian Muslim group, is also planning mass
protests at the Australian Embassy over the issue, spokesman Ismail Yusanto says.
He has given no date for the protest.
Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia has organised huge rallies recently to protest US interference
in Muslim countries.
Witnesses say security at the Australian Embassy does not appear to have been
beefed up in anticipation of the protest.
Indonesia has recalled back its ambassador to Australia for "consultations" with
Foreign Ministry officials over the matter and summoned Australian Embassy officials
to be told of Indonesia's "disappointment and dismay".
Indonesia released a statement on Thursday saying the Government was "surprised,
disappointed and deeply deploring" of Australia's decision to grant visas to all but one
of 43 Papuans who had sought asylum.
The Papuans, who include pro-independence activists and their families, have
accused Indonesia of "genocide" in troubled Papua - a former Dutch colony taken by
Indonesia in the 1960s.
Indonesia has denied that any of the Papuans were being sought by the authorities,
said they were not subject to persecution and guaranteed their security if they
returned to Papua.
Papua peace
Meanwhile, Indonesian security authorities and student and tribal leaders agreed on
Sunday to work to restore peace in Papua province.
The agreement comes after riots over a US-run mine in which six people were killed.
In a meeting convened by the chancellor of the state Cendrawasih University - the
scene of the riot - student leaders, provincial police and military chiefs, religious and
tribal leaders and non-government organisations came together.
"They all called on all sides, especially on students and the public, to remain calm
and return," Reverend Herman Saut told a local radio station.
Reverend Saut says all participants agreed to work to restore calm "so that incidents
which will harm us all will not happen again."
- AFP
© ABC 2006 |
