Te Karere Ipurangi
Fiji Coup Supplement

May 31, 2000
Australia a threat to Indonesia
karere@maorinews.com

 

Straits Times
Singapore
May 30, 2000

Australia a threat to Indonesia, says minister Jakarta's Foreign Minister says several Australian non-governmental organisations are involved in inciting violence in Irian Jaya or Papua

JAKARTA -- Indonesian considers Australia as a big danger to the national integrity because some of its elements have tried to provoke disturbances in the easternmost province of Irian Jaya or Papua, said Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab. In comments ahead of a planned trip by President Abdurrahman Wahid to Australia, the minister accused several Australian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) of being involved in inciting violence in the troubled province, the Indonesian Observer reported yesterday.

"Indonesia's foreign policy places Australia as an external factor that endangers its national integrity, especially in Papua,'' Mr Alwi told a seminar entitled "Reconciliation as an Actualisation of a New Indonesia' in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar over the weekend. The minister confirmed that Indonesia's foreign policy is now designed to accommodate external factors that could possibly disturb the national integrity. "Australia endangers our national integrity through upheaval that takes place in Papua. The upheaval was provoked by Australian NGOs.''

 

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